


Stranger Academy

by KittiePhanatic



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Gen, Good Sibling Allison Hargreeves, Good Sibling Luther Hargreeves, Hawkins (Stranger Things), Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, Post-Stranger Things 2, Pre-Stranger Things 3, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves, The Upside Down, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiePhanatic/pseuds/KittiePhanatic
Summary: Number Five Hargreeves and his Umbrella Academy siblings travel from the time the world ends in 2019 to Hawkins, Indiana in April 1985.  As the siblings adjust to their new surroundings and wonder how they will help their sister Vanya, Five becomes acquainted with an unusual teenage girl.  Meanwhile, another Hargreeves sibling goes missing, and no one else is aware of the grave danger in which he has found himself.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Klaus Hargreeves, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Vanya Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 21
Kudos: 191





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! I hope you all are safe during our global pandemic. 💖 This is my first attempt at a crossover, featuring my two favorite current shows, as well as my first overall fic not solely dedicated to the Umbrella Academy. 
> 
> To anyone who may not be fully familiar with either series: Stranger Things depicts kids, teenagers, and several adults fighting a Mind Flayer, Demodogs, bad scientists and evil Soviets in the mid-1980s; Umbrella Academy features a family of (mostly) 29-year-old former child superhero siblings, all with his or her own unique abilies. One of those abilities is traveling through time, and is possessed by Number Five --- a 58-year-old man in his 13-year-old body due to a previous 55-year time-jump --- who in this story has brought all of his siblings from 2019 to 1985 to avoid the apocalypse that their sister Vanya had caused.
> 
> Although from multi-POV, like my other UA fics this story is relatively Klaus-centric. And if my tags about Diego seem conflicting, he does soften up significantly as the story progresses. (Like quite a few UA fic writers here, I’m big on the Diego & Klaus brotherly dynamic.)
> 
> Regarding Stranger Things, the story there eventually reverts back to canon in time for the Season Three events.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys!

A kaleidoscope of colors and lights danced gracefully within Five's vision. Faster and faster until the images wove into a blur.

Then blackness.

Birds chirping in the distance.

Five forced his eyelids open. He blinked as the sun shining through the leafy tree limbs above him came into focus.

He quickly sat up and observed his surroundings in the woods. To his left lay Diego, linked arm-in-arm with Klaus. On Five's other side was Alison, sprawled across Luther, who in turn was shielding Vanya.

_ Think, Five. _

He again glanced at Allison; that was when he noticed the bandage on her neck.

_ She can’t talk. _

_ Her throat was cut. _

_ Vanya did this. _

_. . . _

_ Shit! _

In a flash, it all came back to Five. The theater. The Academy. The apocalypse. The time travel.

Five quickly glanced down to his hands and feet. They were the same size as before. Damn it, he still looked like a thirteen-year-old boy. He again observed his siblings. At least he didn’t mess them up physically.

Five slowly scanned the trees surrounding him. Were they back in Jackpine Cove? Somehow, it didn’t look the same. Not that he would have noticed before, as even prior to having arrived at the cabin and finding Allison, Five had been dealing with Luther's constant demands to drive faster until Five had threatened to burn him with the cigarette lighter.

"Guys!" Five shook Diego and then shoved him against Klaus. Then Five nudged Allison as the former two brothers moaned and squirmed.

"What the…" Klaus muttered as he slowly used his arms to push himself up to a seating position.

"Jesus." Diego placed his hand on his forehead before forcing himself up as well.

Allison awoke as dazed as her two brothers, but she quickly snapped back to reality as she crawled to Luther and began shaking him, as well as attempting to pull him off of their sister. Luther reluctantly opened his eyes as Allison yanked him back.

"Allison…" Luther looked bewilderingly at her before his eyes darted around at the rest of the siblings. He tried standing up but a flash of lightheadedness kept him seated with the others. "Is everyone all right?"

Allison looked down at her still-unconscious sister. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stroked Vanya's cheeks.

"Yeah," Diego grunted as he slowly stood up. "Shit." He closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his forehead. "Fuck, my head fucking  _ hurts! _ " He dropped to his knees.

Five nodded. "Yeah, one of the symptoms of time travel. Full body itch is another," Five nodded at Luther, who was vigorously scratching his shoulders.

" _ F-U-U-UCK! _ " Diego screamed, still clutching his forehead as he bent over, burying his head in his knees.

Five eyed Klaus, whose hands were on his own temples. "What about Ben? Is he still with us?"

Klaus rubbed his eyes before scanning the surroundings. "Shit. No."

"How about before?" Five inquired. "With the briefcase? Did you see him when you first got back then?"

Klaus appeared to be in deep thought for a moment (a rarity for Klaus, Five figured) before answering, "No. Not until we were in the ice cream truck later on."

Five rolled his eyes. Like he needed a reminder of that debacle. He was just grateful that Klaus, Diego and Luther had somehow managed to escape after Five had left with the Handler.

_ The Handler. Shit. _ Would she know he was here? He was grateful to have discovered the "candy" at the bowling alley, so it would hopefully be a while before the Commission would find him again. Of course, Five was unsure of how many Commission personnel he had taken out during his escape from Headquarters.

"So, where  _ are _ we?" Klaus wondered.

"I don’t know." Five observed Allison holding her unconscious sister’s head in her lap before continuing. "I’m going to find out, though."

"Wait, Five," Luther objected. "We should all stick together. We don’t know where we are---"

"Exactly!" Five interrupted. "We don’t know what country we’re in, or what time period. Depending on where we are, you all could stick out like a sore thumb!"

"Ex-squeeze me?" Klaus eyed Five accusingly.

"Well, look at Luther! And if we’re still in U.S. territory and especially before the twentieth century, Diego and Allison will also be out of place. And you…" Five trailed off as he seized Klaus' attire consisting of his brightly-striped tank top and those crazy leather pants.

"And me,  _ what? _ " Klaus placed his hands on his hips.

"Never mind," Five muttered.

Luther sighed. "Five does have a point."

"That, plus, remember that my so-called career consisted of time-traveling. I know how to adapt to any time period." Five looked again at Vanya. "I won’t be gone long. Just long enough to know where and when we are. I realize we don’t know what we’ll be up against when Vanya comes to."

Luther exchanged glances with Allison, who quickly averted her gaze back to her sister. She stroked Vanya's hair.

"Fine," Luther said to Five. "Just get back here as quickly as possible."

Five looked up at the sun in the sky. From its position he figured it must be midday. He turned to face what he assumed was West and blinked himself to a quarter of a mile away from everyone, still in the woods. He almost teleported again before remembering the night he had first dealt with Hazel and Cha-Cha at Gimble Brothers, when he had overdone it. In case he faced any danger (or the siblings, if Vanya were to awaken with the same evil force that had somehow taken over her mind), he would need his superpower more than ever.

So, Five continued walking through the woods while listening to any signs of nearby civilization. It wasn’t long before he spotted a cyclone fence off in the distance. He quickly zapped to it. He scanned the lengthy fence until he saw an opening about a hundred yards away. Again, he decided to continue walking as he made his way along the fence and past the trees to the open area. And that was when he saw the huge building.

Five figured it to be at least four or five stories high, and several dish antennae occupied its roof. Okay, so they were at least in the twentieth century. However, the parking lot was entirely empty. Perhaps it was the weekend.

Five quickly teleported to the signs he had seen about a hundred feet away. One was a no-trespassing sign. The other read  _ HAWKINS NATIONAL LABORATORY. _

_ Hawkins National Laboratory. _ That name was familiar. So they were still in the U.S., or at least in an English-language country. Five attempted to recall everything he had studied in the library during his forty-plus years in the apocalypse. Sure, his top priority was learning how to correctly travel through time; but there was a  _ lot _ to read and study in the process. Plus, Five knew that being even much more informed and smarter than he obviously already was would make an even greater expression on Delores.

Damn it. He really needed her now.

Five quickly swallowed and got back to the task on hand. He then blinked past the cyclone fence and landed in the parking lot. And that was when he noticed in the distance the padlock chained around the front entrance.

_ Shit. Hawkins Lab. Hawkins, Indiana. How could I have forgotten that? _

Five had probably been ten years in the apocalypse when he had read a couple of national news stories about the lab and town. In 1984 the FBI had shut down the lab after an investigative reporter revealed that they had covered up a chemical spill which killed a teenage girl who had been reported missing a year before. The town of Hawkins itself garnered much more press attention in 1985 following the July Fourth fire at the recently-built Starcourt Mall, when it was discovered that the mayor had knowingly originally sold the property to Russian soldiers; more disturbing was that thirty people inside were killed, despite the mall having been closed for the holiday (with the exception of the mall's movie theater, and even that had closed for the night a couple of hours earlier). However, one of the other strange set of twists to the series of events was that two people reported dead at different times turned out to be alive and well: the police chief following the Starcourt Mall fire, and much more odd was a twelve-year-old boy whose body had been reportedly found in a quarry in 1983 (significant decomposition was what had supposedly make the authorities mistakenly identify him), and who also was supposedly affected by the lab's chemical spill. Five recalled reading tabloid articles espousing numerous conspiracy theories about the town and had wondered if there was somehow a connection between the bizarre events there and his and his adopted siblings' birth, but he eventually concluded that the chances were very unlikely.

Five made it to the road outside the building. Not far from him was a road sign:  _ DOWNTOWN HAWKINS ¼ MI. _ Good. He could easily find a newspaper with the current date.

It was much easier than he had thought it would be. The Hawkins Post was right along the town square, with the newspaper vending stand in front of the building. Of course, it required fifty cents and Five had no change, but he could see through the stand window the date. They had traveled from April 1, 2019 to the same date in 1985. So he and the siblings were catapulted to Hawkins, Indiana, during the time between the two nationally-reported events.

This couldn’t be a coincidence.


	2. Chapter 2

Five had been gone for twenty minutes when Vanya began stirring. With her sister’s head still in her lap, Allison glanced up worriedly at her brothers.

"Shit," Luther muttered. They hadn’t even discussed how they would deal with Vanya once she came to. During the theater battle, the siblings had barely noticed the change in color of Vanya's attire to all white as Klaus had just manifested their dead brother Ben for the first time since Ben's death thirteen years ago; however, since arriving at wherever they were now, Vanya's tuxedo outfit and shoes had changed back to their original black color. 

Allison's pulse raced as she watched Vanya's eyelids flutter. She took Vanya's hand and wished so badly she could repeat aloud, "I love you," those being the first words Vanya would have heard upon awakening. Vanya might have slashed her throat, but Allison believed it was her own fault for trying to "rumor" Vanya into forgetting her powers, like their father had made Allison unknowingly do when they were four years old.

How would Vanya be? Would she be back to herself, or would the evil force that had encompassed her still be glaringly present? Allison was at least relieved as Vanya slowly opened her eyes which were brown again, instead of that horrifying white color associated with whatever she had become before.

Luther and Diego cautiously stood above the two sisters, prepared for any type of confrontation, while Klaus stood timidly behind Diego.

Vanya squinted her eyes. "A-Alison?" She said slowly and raspily.

Allison tearfully smiled and squeezed her sister’s hand.

Vanya's eyes reluctantly moved from Allison to their brothers. "Guys?"

"Uh," Luther muttered, "How are you feeling?"

Vanya continued to eye her brothers, seemingly confused, before she turned back to Allison. Allison could tell that Vanya was now looking at her bandaged throat. Then Vanya's eyes widened.

"Oh, my God!" Vanya shot upright as her eyes darted around her siblings. "Oh, my God! Where are we? What happened? Oh, my God, what did I do?!"

"Vanya, it’s okay," Luther cautiously took a step toward the sisters.

"No!" Vanya quickly crawled backwards like a spider for several paces and then stopped. "I mean, what’s going on?"

Allison looked desperately at her brothers. Luther was the last person who should try to intervene; he had locked her up, after all! He was the straw that had broken the camel's back. And they had no idea how Vanya would react to  _ any _ of the brothers, let alone Luther; although Diego and Klaus had been equally adamant that Luther release Vanya at that time, Diego had previously said many unkind words to her, and Allison wasn’t certain if Vanya and Klaus had any type of sibling relationship. Allison was momentarily afraid to approach Vanya herself, having been what she now knew was the unintentional victim in Vanya's initial rage at the cabin.

However, Klaus quickly darted out from behind Diego and stopped several feet before Vanya. "Vanya," Klaus said cautiously, kneeling before her.

"Klaus!" Luther gritted his teeth. "Don’t."

"Vanya," Klaus repeated, ignoring Luther. "It’s okay. We’re all okay. Five took all of us on a time travel. We’re okay. You’re going to be okay."

"No!" Vanya backed away one more pace. "Allison…her throat…" She then looked at Luther. "You…you locked me up." Vanya frightfully scanned her siblings once more, before her eyes became as huge as saucers. "The Academy…Pogo…oh, my  _ God! WHAT HAVE I DONE?! _ " She covered her face with her hands and sobbed violently.

At that very moment, clouds converged from out of nowhere, and rain began to fall.

Klaus slowly inched toward Vanya and cautiously placed his hand on her shoulder. She flinched and he yanked it away, then he carefully touched her again. "Vanya," he said softly, "Whatever happened, that wasn’t you. It was something else that possessed you." Vanya continued crying as Klaus gently stroked her hair. "We brought you back in time so we could help you."

Allison quickly joined Vanya's side and wrapped her arms around her distraught sister in a bear hug.

"I’m so sorry, Allison!" Vanya wailed. Allison hugged her sister more tightly. Nothing was said for several minutes as the two sisters tearfully embraced each other.

"Vanya," Luther finally approached them.

Vanya lifted her head from Allison's shoulder to face him.

"I’m sorry," Luther said, hoping his fear of her wasn’t showing. "I---I was wrong in what I did."

Vanya stared at him for another second, before running into her brother’s arms as the rain subsided. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Fuck," Five muttered to himself as he stood now drenched outside the Hawkins Post after that five-minute freak rainfall.  _ Vanya must have come to. Shit. I need to get back to them. _

"Shouldn’t you be in school, young man?"

Five was startled as he turned to face a forty-something blond-haired man with a creepy sinister smile.

"Shouldn’t you be at  _ work? _ " Five shot back.

"I am," the man smirked, pointing at the Hawkins Post sign.

Five seized the man up. "If you’re a reporter, I’m the fucking Pope."

"You know," the reported snarkily said, "The Hawkins Police Department is just around the corner. I’m sure Chief Hopper would  _ love _ to deal with truant schoolchildren!"

_ Chief Hopper. Must’ve been the cop that was presumed dead when he was kidnapped by Russians. _ Then Five said to the idiot reporter, "I’m not from here. I have the week off school and I’m here visiting my grandparents! So go do the job you claim to have!"

With that, Five turned heel and walked toward the middle of the block. He looked at the sign above the building now in front of him.  _ Melvald's General Store. _ First, he would quickly grab a pen and notepad for Allison to communicate; it had stopped raining so hopefully things were under control with the siblings, but he would still need to get back there as quickly as possible afterward.

"Can I help you?" A dark-haired lady appearing close in age to that asshole reporter inquired.

"Um, yeah," Five approached the counter, "Joyce," he repeated the name on her work tag. "I’m here visiting my family, and…well, my aunt has bad laryngitis so I figured she should have a notepad to write on, but I don’t have any money. Is there any type of trash paper or something I can use to write until I can buy something?"

Joyce smiled warmly. "Of course." She left the counter and walked over to the stationery section. She grabbed a notepad and returned to operate the register. "I’ll buy this for you with my employee discount." Then she lowered her voice. "Just don’t tell my boss that," she added despite there being nobody else in the store. 

"Thanks," Five took the notepad as Joyce deposited cash into the register. 

"No problem," Joyce continued beaming as she pulled a pen out of a cup to hand to him as well. "You’re like my younger son, Will. He goes out of his way for other people, too."

Five forced a smile. He hated any references to kindness or affection, but he obviously needed to keep up the charade. "Thanks again."

"Have a nice day!" Joyce called after Five as he quickly walked out the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was about five minutes before Luther and Vanya broke apart.

"I want to help you, too," Luther blinked back his own tears. "We all want to help you learn how to control your powers."

"I’m so sorry," Vanya tearfully repeated for the umpteenth time. "I---I’ll never come close to deserving any forgiveness for what I’ve done."

"Look," Luther said. "We can’t change what’s already happened. At least right now. Hopefully Five can somehow get us back, maybe even to right before any of this started. But we need to move forward. We all need to work together."

"Absolutely!" Klaus chimed in. "Right, Diego?"

Diego looked coldly at Vanya. "I…I need some time." With that he turned and walked away.

"Diego!" Luther started after him.

"Wait!" Klaus sprinted past Luther, touching his arm. "Let me talk to him. Okay?"

Luther turned to Allison, once again standing next to Vanya. Allison nodded in agreement. In what little she had observed of Diego and Klaus over the past week since the funeral and reunion, she could tell that unlike the rest of the siblings, Diego and Klaus had remained in contact over the years, and that the two brothers were the only ones who could reach out to each other.

Luther nodded to Klaus. "Okay."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Diego!" Klaus ran breathlessly after Diego, who was marching vigorously through the forest. 

"Go away, Klaus!"

Klaus caught up to Diego and blocked his path. "No. You didn’t leave me at the vet bar, and I’m not leaving you now. Talk to me."

"I can’t forgive her right now, okay?" Diego blurted out. "She killed Mom."

Klaus nodded in understanding. "I know. But that’s the one thing I don’t think she realized that she did."

"I don’t care. She killed Mom. After I’d just gotten Mom back!"

Klaus nodded again, sympathetically. "I know. Those assholes killed her the first time."

" _ And _ they killed Eudora," Diego bitterly reminded Klaus.

Klaus felt an uneasy gnawing at the pit of his stomach. Diego was, of course, referencing when Hazel and Cha-Cha had kidnapped Klaus following their Academy break-in and shootout.

Diego stopped suddenly and stared more suspiciously at Klaus. "You know what, you never told me  _ how _ Eudora found you in the first place."

Klaus gulped, the fear building.  _ Shit. _ He faced his brother. He couldn’t lie to Diego. "They---they found the lab that Five was surveilling."

Diego's eyes narrowed. "And  _ how _ did they find it in the first place?"

Klaus felt himself trembling. "Uh, they tortured me. Remember?"

"Yes, I remember! I also remember the time me and Ben tied you up to keep you from getting drugs after you’d nearly fucked up that one mission. And I remember that you got a fucking boner from that! And I’ve seen you after you had the shit beaten out of you by one of your lowlife associates; it never stopped you from behaving like a dumbass. So, the truth, Klaus.  _ Now. _ "

Klaus reluctantly sighed. "Okay, okay. They found my drugs and started smashing them. You gotta understand, I was going through shitty withdrawals and dealing with a nonstop chattery Russian lady ghost. I know it’s not an excuse, but I caved!"

"And then when she found you, you bolted and left her there to die!" Diego angrily concluded.

"Diego!" Klaus exclaimed, heartbroken. "I didn’t know! She was fine when I left!"

Diego stared coldly at Klaus. "I blamed Five for this, because we were looking for his drunk ass. But this was  _ your _ fault for ratting him out and getting Eudora killed."

Klaus felt a sharp pain in his chest. His eyes stung. "Diego…" Klaus took a cautious step toward his brother. The next thing Klaus knew, he received a blow to his left cheek.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Diego screamed as Klaus staggered backwards from his brother’s punch, holding his cheek.

Klaus turned away and ran as the tears fell.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Klaus!" Luther exclaimed as Klaus darted past him, Allison and Vanya. "Where the hell are you going?"

Klaus said nothing as he continued sprinting ahead.

"Let me," Vanya broke away from yet another embrace with Allison and hurried after her brother. "Klaus! Please!"

Klaus immediately halted. Vanya figured he was probably afraid to say no to her, but whatever would get him to stop and talk was fine by her. She quickly caught up to Klaus and faced him. "What happened, Klaus?"

Klaus shook his head, his eyes shut tightly as tears streamed down his face.

"Klaus," Vanya said softly. "I understand if Diego can’t forgive me. I’ll never be able to forgive myself for…" She trailed off and wiped her eyes. "But, I mean, did something else happen between you guys?"

Klaus let out a couple of sobs before wiping his own eyes. "The night the Academy got attacked…those assholes kidnapped me. Held me hostage in their motel room 'cause they were looking for Five." He then tearfully explained what had gotten Klaus to crack and the tragedy that followed, and Diego's newly-formed belief that it was all Klaus' fault.

"Klaus, please don’t blame yourself. I mean, everything I did was so unimaginably worse."

"Yeah," Klaus cried, "but that wasn’t really you, remember? I was fully capable of what I was doing and I didn’t even give a shit. I just wanted my drugs. Diego's right. And he hates me. The only living Academy sibling who actually gave a crap about me even before the funeral. He hates me now. This was all my fault."

"Klaus,  _ no! _ " Vanya argued, placing her hand on his arm.

"Vanya, everyone’s reminded me time and time again how useless I am. I’m clean now, but that doesn’t make a difference. I was pissed off at Luther for making me the 'lookout' at the theater, as well as for some shit that went down a couple days before that, but he’s right. Everyone is right. I’m useless, whether I’m clean or not. Diego has every right to blame me for what happened."

"Klaus---"

Klaus wiped his eyes once more. "Vanya, you can be helped. Take that help. I’m beyond help. Everyone else knew it long before I did. I’m just now finally able to admit that to myself."

They were interrupted by a whooshing sound. "Guys!" Five called out from where he was standing with Luther and Allison.

Vanya took Klaus' hand and the two walked back to the group. Diego also rejoined, keeping his bitter gaze to the ground.

"Okay, so I know where we are." Five went on to explain the town of Hawkins and what he knew of the bizarre events. "So, here’s the plan. Tonight I’m bringing Allison with me to the department store so we can loot clothing that should make…well,  _ most _ of us fit in." Five eyed Luther's large upper physique.

"Why Allison?" Luther demanded.

"Because, out of all of us, Allison probably has the best knowledge about eighties fashion, no offense to any of you."

Vanya knew that Five was correct. Allison had actually once starred in a movie in which the story took place in the eighties.

"And I need to blink in the store and disable any security footage before Allison can take anything," Five added as he handed her a notepad. 

Allison nodded in agreement, sticking her thumb up for emphasis.

Five then eyed Klaus before saying to Allison, "Make sure you get  _ this _ one clothing that makes him look halfway normal."

" _ Five! _ " Vanya scolded her little older brother, as Klaus turned to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Five demanded.

"Out for a walk," Klaus said without turning around. "Don’t worry. Nobody else will see how freakish I look."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: period-appropriate homophobic slur.

Frustrated, Eleven turned off the TV. Her soap opera was interrupted by news coverage of the recent killing of an American soldier by Soviets in Germany. She couldn’t care less about the news. It was always about bad stuff. Eleven had dealt with more than enough bad stuff in her life.

She stared at the front door and telekinetically made the locks unlatch. Ever since she closed the Gate last November, Hopper had started becoming lax on the three rules he had initially enacted after taking her in. Mike was now allowed to see her after school, until dinner. Sometimes their other friends Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max (short for Maxine) would join him. And Mike's family agreed to have Eleven over for Easter dinner this coming Sunday. Additionally, Eleven was allowed to venture outside the cabin, so long as she stay hidden during school hours; according to Hop, policemen were very strict about kids ditching school.

Eleven stepped out onto the porch, breathing in the crisp early Spring air. She continued down the porch stairs and stood at the edge of the long gravel driveway. She had never tried walking out to the road herself. She decided to start toward there, with the intent of stopping somewhere still out of view of drivers.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a man approaching. She froze, ready to take action if he tried doing anything to her.

The man stopped within ten feet of her. "Uh, hello."

Eleven stared at the man and scanned him over. He looked a little younger than Hopper, wearing strange-looking black pants. She noticed the skeleton tattoo on his arm and the umbrella tattoo on his wrist. He sort of reminded Eleven of the guy with the crazy hair who lived with her sister. This man didn’t have crazy hair like that guy, but he still looked crazy compared to everyone else Eleven knew in Hawkins. "Hi," she finally said cautiously.

The man looked past Eleven to the cabin behind her. "Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was private property."

Eleven tilted her head as she took a step toward the strange man. That was when she noticed the tears staining his cheeks. "You…you’ve been crying."

The man quickly wiped his face. "Yeah. Long story. Sorry. I’ll be out of your way. I didn’t mean to trespass."

"Trespass?" Eleven repeated the word unfamiliar to her.

The man stared at her, apparently confused. "Uh, went on private property without permission."

"Oh," Eleven said. "It’s okay."

"Well, sorry again. See ya." The man lifted a hand in which its palm revealed another tattoo: _GOOD BYE._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five and Allison left at nightfall and returned two hours later with bags and backpacks full of clothing and some blankets for everyone. Klaus defeatedly took a blanket and lay on the ground without changing his clothes.

"Uh, you _are_ going to wear something different tomorrow, right?" Five said to him. "Especially if you go out again."

Klaus sighed and pulled the blanket over his face. "Yes," he moaned.

"And this is for _any_ of you," Five was apparently addressing all siblings. "Make sure you avoid talking to people. Remember, any small change can have drastic effects on the time continuum."

Klaus had decided not to tell anyone about his encounter with the young girl, for obvious reasons. And her behavior had been so odd that Klaus almost thought he had been sent back to the afterlife. He almost wished now that was where he was, but with his luck God would probably send him right back to Earth, but not before subjecting Klaus to another visit with his asshole _adopted_ father.

Klaus turned to his side and closed his eyes. But it was a long time before sleep took him.

Five left soon after everyone woke up the next morning. He had said he would be at the library researching the town more and finding any literature about time travel that the Argyle Library hadn’t possessed. Luther took Vanya to start her training. Diego had gruffly told Luther he would be out on a walk and to leave him alone. Klaus soon left himself, being certain to walk in the opposite direction of Diego when he had left earlier.

Therefore, Klaus walked West through the forest, eventually passing the shuttered Hawkins Lab. He continued along the road, wearing the Levi's 501 jeans and long-sleeved plaid shirt Allison had gotten him. Before long he reached the town square.

Jesus, he wanted drugs bad. But this was a small podunk town in the eighties, and he figured nobody did drugs in Hawkins…at least not until the opioid epidemic to which Klaus himself had contributed greatly over the more recent years.

"Excuse me," a man with a clipboard approached him. "Are you registered to vote in the City of Hawkins?"

"Uh, no," Klaus stammered, backing away, remembering Five's instructions not to converse with anyone. "Just visiting."

The man, however, took another step toward Klaus. "Do you know if whoever you’re visiting signed a petition opposing the Starcourt Mall?"

_Starcourt Mall._ That was where the fire that had killed thirty people on July Fourth occurred, according to Five. It had only been open for two weeks, so it was obviously under construction right now. "I don’t. Sorry." He quickly turned away.

"Thanks for your help, faggot," the man called out from behind Klaus.

Klaus cringed. The only other times he had heard that was whenever he had gotten beat up by a john. He sprinted faster, in case this guy wanted to, also.

And that was how he ended up inside the general store.

"Hello," the lady behind the counter said. "Can I help---" She stopped abruptly, apparently noticing the fear in his face. "Are you okay?"

Klaus forced a grin. "Yeah. Sorry to bother you." He started back toward the door despite still seeing the man outside.

"Wait," the lady stepped out from behind the counter. Her name was Joyce, according to her tag. "Is that man harassing you?"

"No," Klaus abruptly lied, not wanting to cause anything that would disrupt the time continuation…or however Five had put it.

"Look, it’s okay," Joyce stared through the glass door at the petitioner. "He’s been harassing everyone in this town. I get it. I’m afraid of how this new mall will impact my job. But he’s been aggressive and downright rude. One call from me to our police chief, and Hopper will throw his ass in jail."

"No, it’s okay," Klaus repeated. That would _definitely_ screw things up, unless Joyce would wind up making the call for someone else…someone who had not traveled from another time period.

"So, I’m Joyce. What’s your name? I’ve never seen you before." 

"Klaus," he reluctantly answered.

"Listen," she continued, "I really don’t mean to pry, but what did that man say to upset you so much?"

Klaus sighed. He did not want to discuss this, but at the same time he saw a look of warm empathy in Joyce's eyes. So he caved. "Well, he called me a faggot, but I was already upset when I got here. Long story."

Joyce also sighed. "People can be such assholes."

Klaus looked at Joyce, surprised. Wasn’t this the 1980s Midwest? Wasn’t everyone in that region adverse to non-heterosexuality? Klaus caught himself asking, "You don’t care that I’m---" Klaus stopped himself before he could utter the word _pansexual;_ although the hybrid word had been attested…well, over a hundred years ago from Klaus' timeline and nearly eighty years in Joyce's, it still was a relatively unknown term in the latter.

Joyce smiled warmly. "Of course not. I don’t care whether someone is gay. And I despise people who call other people names. My ex-husband did the same when talking about our son."

Klaus' eyes widened. "Your son is gay?"

Joyce shook her head. "To be honest, I don’t know yet. He just turned fourteen, and he just hit puberty a couple of months ago. But I’m not sure if it’s that, or if he’s just struggling with the fact that two of his best friends have girlfriends, as does my other son. I think his father only called him that because my son would rather draw and play Dungeons & Dragons than watch a ball game or play sports. Even though my older son has never cared for that, either."

Klaus sadly chuckled. "My dad was an asshole, too."

"I’m sorry," Joyce said sympathetically. "Would you like to talk about what’s really bothering you?"

Klaus sighed once more. He knew he shouldn’t, but maybe he needed to talk to someone who was likely more emotionally stable than he was right now. "Well, it’s a long story, and I really can’t divulge much, but my brother's friend was killed saving my life, and he blames me for it."

Joyce looked crestfallen. "I’m sorry," she repeated. "Are you and he close?"

"Well, our whole family was never that close," Klaus said, "but my brother and I were closer to each other than either of us was to any of our siblings." _Besides Ben, of course,_ Klaus reminded himself, his heart sinking at the reminder that he had yet to be able to conjure Ben since the siblings' arrival to Hawkins. 

"Then give your brother some time to process his grief," Joyce told him. "I understand how he feels. My boyfriend was killed while saving my family’s life, too. I had no one I could even try to blame, other than myself, but I was angry with almost everyone for several weeks, until I could finally come to terms with it. I think your brother will, too."

Klaus nodded. "Well, I should get going." He peeked through the door window to see the man talking with (or harassing) another person.

Joyce smiled. "Good luck, Klaus."

"Thanks." Klaus smiled back as he darted out the door. He made a beeline down the sidewalk, away from that asshole but in the opposite direction from which he came.

He followed several roads that seemingly led toward the direction of the woods where his "family" was, while deep in thought about how to deal with Diego. He dreaded being around his brother after what had happened yesterday. Klaus hoped in time that Diego would indeed come around, as Joyce suggested.

Klaus had barely noticed the abandoned steel mill as he began walking past it, when he felt his body temperature drop and a chill on the back of his neck. Good, maybe he would finally see Ben again. He stopped to wait.

Within another instant, Klaus saw flashes of black and white, and then it was dark. _What the fuck?_ Klaus nervously darted his eyes around his surroundings. The steel mill now had what appeared to be empty black vines running among it. And what looked like snowflakes were slowly falling from the sky. Klaus caught one of the flakes in his hand; although it was cold, it was far from frozen.

_Where the fuck am I?_

Klaus then heard a low grumbling noise among the sky, so he looked up.

And that was when Klaus saw the most hideously frightening image ever: a massively large, smoky, spider-shaped figure emerging from the steel mill. The creature advanced toward Klaus as it thrust one of its tentacles in his direction.

" _SH-I-I-IT!!!_ " Klaus screamed as he quickly turned and ran for his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes on this chapter.
> 
> I tried keeping Joyce Byers in character. Anyone notice the reference to her emotional stability? Anyone well familiar with Stranger Things knows that Joyce is seen by many characters as the opposite. Of course, like Hopper with Eleven's "three simple rules," Joyce has backed off from being overly-protective of Will (at least according to eighties standards, where it was much safer for young children to be outdoors at all hours unsupervised) by the start of the third season, as evidenced by Will once again biking with his friends after dark. When writing Joyce's dialogue with Klaus, however, I used her very caring interaction with Eleven from Season One's "The Bathtub" and, of course, the conclusion of the third season finale, as my guide.
> 
> "The guy with the crazy hair" was the guy with the mohawk in ST's Season Two's "The Lost Sister."
> 
> The content of the news broadcast that interrupted El's soap opera depicted the real-life killing of the American soldier Arthur D. Nicholson on March 24, 1985.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible TW: the family suspects that someone might be suicidal, but this is clearly not the case. There are no actual suicidal thoughts from anyone in this story, so I didn’t think it was necessary to add tags accordingly. But I thought I should still mention it. This will not be brought up any further in my story afterward.

Klaus continued running down the darkened freakish road as he heard the roaring behind him. He dared not turn to face that thing and thereby slow himself down. He eventually reached the cyclone fence around Hawkins Lab. That was when the noise stopped, so Klaus did as well. He slowly turned around. Nothing.

_ Am I safe? _

Suddenly a smoky black line emerged from behind a tree. Before Klaus had time to react, the smoke engulfed his face.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five returned late that afternoon, after the library had closed.

"Where’s Klaus?" Five inquired after the other siblings gathered to hear about his additional research. He looked at Diego.

Diego eyed the ground. "Haven’t seen him," he muttered.

"He said he was going for a walk," Vanya said quietly. "He said he’d be back before dark."

"That was this morning," Luther reminded her.

"There’s still a couple of hours left of daylight," Five reminded them. "Meanwhile, I’ll tell you what else I’ve found out. I’ll just fill him in whenever he gets back."

He went on to explain that after having read the Hawkins Post articles about the 1983 chemical spills, he checked earlier articles about the lab which were referenced in the current but he had been unable to find before as it was only reported locally. Although Five had already known that Hawkins Lab was once host to MK ULTRA experiments, he was unaware of the reports by former participant Terry Ives, who became pregnant during her participation and claimed that the Director of Operations, Dr. Martin Brenner, had stolen her baby at birth; Dr. Brenner, meanwhile, alleged that Terry had miscarried her baby during the third trimester. Five had tried tracking her number in the phone book but there was no Ives listed whatsoever.

Five had decided that his next order of business would be zapping into Hawkins Lab and seeing if there were any salvaged files. Along with the accusations that had shut the lab down, there was some speculation that they experimented on children, thereby torturing them. He announced that he would do this tomorrow.

"I was busy today, too," Vanya said as she held up a Big Buy grocery shopping bag. "Since I have cash, I bought us all some food."

"Uh, did you double-check the mint date on your cash before handing it to the cashier?" Luther inquired cautiously.

"Luther, this isn’t  _ Somewhere in Time, _ " Five argued. "Although they would scream counterfeit if the mint date is later than the current date."

"Well, they accepted my money," Vanya pointed out.

"Just be careful the rest of the time we’re here," Five told her. "And anyway, nothing much has changed in technology between right now and our own timeline."

Vanya handed out deli-wrapped sandwiches to everyone, leaving one in the bag for Klaus, whenever he would get back.

As the siblings ate, Five thought of something else. "Oh, speaking of Big Buy, I read an article about an ex-employee's attempt to sue the company for wrongfully firing him. One day a girl shoplifted a bunch of frozen waffles, and as he tried to catch her, they claim he busted the front window and told them that the girl shattered it with her mind. They also told him to seek professional help. After reading about some of the other weird shit around here, I have to wonder if there is any shred of truth to that."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Day turned to night and Klaus had yet to return. Diego did his best to hide the panic that began poking its way into his being.  _ He’s just off doing something stupid, like he’s always done before. He’ll be back soon. _

Truth was, Diego was starting to regret what he had said to Klaus.  _ But it  _ _ was _ _ his fault, _ Diego told himself. Klaus had brought Hazel and Cha-Cha to the lab, which eventually brought Eudora to her demise.

_ Because I didn’t get the message in time. After I told her to for once do things my way. _

Again, it hit Diego like a ton of bricks. He blamed Five, and Klaus, when he truly could not deny the fact that Eudora would still be alive had Diego not made that plea.

He still wasn’t ready to say he forgave Klaus, or to even apologize to him. He wasn’t sure why, and he wouldn’t do either unless he knew for certain.

As the evening progressed to later night, Klaus was still out there somewhere.  _ Now _ Diego was worried, just like the other siblings.

"Diego," Luther finally said, "What happened between you guys?"

Diego turned to Vanya, whose face was riddled with horror. Next to Vanya, Allison nudged her and took hold of her hand.

"What, Vanya?" Diego inquired uneasily.

"Just…thinking about some things Klaus said yesterday," Vanya's brows furrowed with worry.

" _ What _ things?" Diego sharply demanded, feeling the panic gradually seep in.

"Just that…he said he was beyond help," Vanya said as her eyes began to water. "I didn’t think about it then, but looking back now, I wonder…."

" _ WHAT?! _ " Diego yelled.

Vanya faced him with dread. "If he was trying to say goodbye."

Diego's heart sank. "Shit."  _ I did this to him. I made him leave. Because he thinks I hate him. _

"Now, let’s not jump to conclusions," Five made an attempt to reel everyone back in. "This is  _ Klaus _ we’re talking about. Remember that he’s never been too reliable. For all we know, he could be out getting high somewhere."

Five stopped as Allison began scribbling on her notepad. She soon held it up:  _ BEN! THEATER! KLAUS IS USEFUL! _

"Five," Luther added, "Also remember, we went an entire day not knowing that Klaus had been kidnapped because we were too busy looking for you."

Diego felt the anger rise again. Not at Klaus, but at himself. "Would you all just shut the fuck up!  _ I _ should've known he was missing!" He swallowed the massive lump in his throat. "And I shouldn’t have blamed him."

"Diego…." Vanya quietly trailed off.

"What are you saying, Diego?" Luther inquired cautiously. 

Diego coldly looked Luther in the eye. "I blamed him for Patch's death. When it was my fault for telling her to do things my way. So now if anything happens to Klaus, that’s my fault, too!" He quickly started walking into the dark of night."

"Diego, where are you going?" Luther demanded. 

"To find Klaus!" Diego exclaimed.

"No," Luther ordered. "It’s dark, and we don’t want to attract police attention by wandering around town at night."

"Shut up, Luther!"

"Luther's right, Diego," Five said. "And you will especially raise concerns if anyone sees you. I’ve researched the demographics of this town. There is  _ no _ Latino population in Hawkins whatsoever right now. Not only that, people will wonder about your scarring."

"Wait!" Vanya said quietly. "Listen."

The siblings all listened to scuffling in the woods. Diego quickly grabbed a knife.

A silhouette appeared. Diego stepped closer to it.

It was Klaus.

" _ Klaus! _ " Diego ran up to hug his brother. Before he could get the chance, Klaus spoke back.

"Stay away from me," Klaus ordered in an unsettling cold tone Diego had never before heard.

Diego stopped stared at Klaus under the moonlight. His shirt was tied around his waist, and droplets of sweat surrounded his face and chest. Was he high?

"Klaus," Luther cautiously approached him. "Where have you been?"

"None of your business." Klaus bothered not to make eye contact as he began walking again. Diego watched as Klaus sat down on the ground, staring coldly ahead.

Diego walked over to Klaus and knelt down in front of him. "Are you okay, bro?"

Klaus slowly eyed Diego. "I said,  _ leave me alone. _ "

Diego looked Klaus over once more. His brown curls stuck to his forehead, which was dripping with sweat. Something was clearly wrong with him.

"What did you take?" Luther demanded.

" _ Nothing! _ " Klaus screeched. "Just everybody go away, please. Leave me  _ alone! _ "

Diego continued to watch his brother in saddened shock as Klaus untied his shirt, rolled it up into a ball and lay himself down.

_ What the fuck is wrong with him? _

Maybe by morning, Klaus would be back to himself after whatever he had taken would wear off. Then Diego could talk to him. And apologize for what he had said yesterday.

By morning, however, Klaus was gone once again.


	5. Chapter 5

"We  _ have _ to find him!" Diego demanded in the morning as Five got ready to head to Hawkins Lab.

" _ You _ all need to stay here, and out of sight," Five ordered. " _ All _ of you stick out like a sore thumb, even with your eighties clothing."

Allison held up her notepad.  _ WHY ME? _

"Well, Hawkins does have a colored population---"

Allison interrupted Five by swatting him with the notepad. Then she scribbled,  _ PEOPLE OF COLOR. _

"Actually, they were still referred as  _ black _ in the nineteen-eighties," Five corrected her. "And  _ you _ can correct my jargon after you’ve spent forty-five years in the apocalypse and several in a nineteen-fifty-five setting. But my point is: yes, there is a black population in Hawkins, but nobody is biracial. I already told the store clerk I was visiting when she gave me the notepad. If you show up in town and she sees you, it will raise suspicions about all of us!"

"I won’t, though," Vanya pointed out.

"No, while I’m gone, you guys need to train her." Five then looked at Vanya. "That was the whole point in time-traveling and bringing you with us. You need to learn how to control your powers." He looked at Numbers One and Two. "You guys'll have to work  _ together _ in training her. I’ll search for Klaus while I’m digging up more dirt on Hawkins Lab. And hopefully I can find out what the hell is wrong with him."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Half an hour later Five was inside the building that was Hawkins Lab. He walked down several deserted corridors until he approached a door with the sign,  _ FILE ROOM. _

Inside were several filing cabinets all with labels depicting what part of the alphabet each drawer's contents represented. Five removed his backpack, opened it, and pulled out the various newspaper articles he had photocopied at the library.

_ Terry Ives. _ The woman who claimed that Dr. Brenner stole her baby in 1971.

_ William Byers. _ The boy missing in 1983 but whose body that was pulled out of the quarry was actually someone else.

_ Barbara Holland. _ Was missing for a year until it was revealed in 1984 that the Hawkins Lab chemical spill caused her death.

_ Robert Newby. _ Was somehow killed inside the lab on November 5, 1984; FBI was investigating this.

_ James Hopper. _ Hawkins Police chief reported dead from the Starcourt Mall fire on July 4, 1985; was later revealed to have been kidnapped by Russians. 

_ Murray Bauman. _ The ex-investigative reporter who had broken the news about Hawkins Lab in the first place.

Five opened the A - E file drawer and quickly found the tab,  _ BYERS, WILLIAM. _ He pulled it out and shoved it in his backpack. Within a few minutes he shoved Teresa Ives' file there as well. Five was unable to find files on any of the other people.

Five then noticed another drawer: 001 - 008. Below that, 009 - 016. One more: 017 - 025. He opened the first drawer and pulled out the 001 file. He began reading:

_ Prentice, Janet. _

_ DOB: 05/13/1966 _

Five continued reading the notes depicting experiments conducted with this girl, including locking her in a room with the intent of turning her fear into a supernatural force of power. After many unsuccessful attempts, the notes concluded that she possessed none. Then at the very end:  _ Executed by lethal injection 11/10/1967. _

Shit. They killed the children who were ineffective to him.

Five stuffed as many of the numeric files as his backpack would fit. He would have to come back for the remainder of the files. He then blinked back outside.

Now to find Klaus. Jesus, Five had no clue where to start. A nice wholesome midwestern town probably would not have a porn shop or strip bar. Where the hell else could he look?

Five eventually made it to downtown Hawkins. He observed a man with a clipboard talking to another man on the grassy plaza. Well, even though Five had warned the others about not conversing with anyone here, he figured it would do no harm if all he did was ask if anyone had seen Klaus.

He sprinted past the Hawkins Post, not wanting to deal with that asshole reporter. He quickly ducked inside Melvald's General Store.

"Well, hey there!" Joyce beamed at him from behind the counter. "How is your visit?"

"Uh, it’s fine," Five stammered. "Uh, my s--- my aunt likes the notepad. Thank you."

"You’re welcome!"

"Right now I’m looking for," Five stopped himself, "my dad. Six feet tall, dark curly hair and the words  _ hello _ and  _ goodbye _ tattooed on his hands."

Joyce nodded. "Yeah, I remember him. He was here yesterday. I hope he’s all right?"

"Why do you say that?" Five inquired suspiciously.

"Well, he was pretty upset, but I shouldn’t betray his confidence," Joyce said.

_ Shit. _ So Klaus had struck up a conversation with this woman, and it was already Five's second time seeing her. He needed to leave. "Okay. Well, thanks anyway."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After an hour of solid training, Vanya was exhausted and lay herself down on her makeshift bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit her wadded-up coat. Luther, meanwhile, had decided to take a quick walk in the woods. This left Diego alone with Allison.

She eventually held her notepad up to Diego.  _ WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON WITH YOU AND KLAUS? KLAUS ACTUALLY HASN’T BEEN HIMSELF EVEN BEFORE WE TRAVELED HERE. _

Diego sighed, recalling the day he had to plow his way through a bunch of Marines at the veterans bar after Klaus had pissed one of them off. "I’m not sure what all is going on with him. All I know is, the day after he got kidnapped he said that he lost someone important to him. I never found out anything more because we spotted Hazel then." Diego sighed. "Whenever we do find him again, I’m getting him to talk. After apologizing to him."

He watched as Allison began writing again. Soon she showed him:  _ KLAUS IS THE MOST FORGIVING PERSON I KNOW. _

Diego nodded. "Everyone’s got their limits, though." Diego hoped that he had not pushed Klaus beyond his own, however. He realized that if Klaus was out getting high, it was Diego's fault.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five wandered down the barren road that would eventually lead him back near the forest where the Academy had been hiding. He came across what appeared to be a winding gravel road to his side, and that was when he noticed the footprints.

The impressions looked the same as the bottoms of Klaus' Keds.  _ Yes. _ Hopefully he was here.

He followed the footprints as the road curved. Soon, however, the footprints stopped. Five looked up, and that was when he noticed the cabin.

He zapped to the front porch and rapped on the door. "Hello? Is anybody here?"

He soon heard what sounded like locks unlatching, and then the door opened to a girl, probably thirteen.

Five wondered,  _ shouldn’t she be in school? _ Maybe she was sick.

"Uh, hi," Five finally stammered. "I was looking for my---my dad. Is anyone else here?"

Five was a little freaked out at how the girl stared at him. Finally she said, "Just me and Hopper. Hop's at work."

"Uh, is that police chief Jim Hopper?"

The girl gave him a strange look. "Yes. Who are you?"

"The name's Five," he said impatiently. "Look, my dad is about six feet tall---"

"Five?" The girl looked at him, seemingly alarmed. "Were you in the lab, too?"

Five froze. How would she have known that he had broken into the lab? "What do you mean?"

Before Five knew it, the girl grabbed his left wrist and yanked up the sleeve. She stared dumbfoundedly at the umbrella tattoo.

"Uh, my dad made me get that," Five tried to explain.

The girl let go of his wrist and then held up her own left arm. She pulled down her turquoise woven bracelet to reveal the tattoo,  _ 011. _

Five stared back at her. "You were one of the experiments?"

"You said your name was Five. A number. Like me. I’m Eleven."

_ Shit. _ He needed to go back to the lab and get her file. But wait, she was now living with the police chief who would be presumed dead in three months?

"Uh, no," Five said. "Long story how I got this," he pointed at his tattoo.

Eleven stared at it. "I’ve seen it."

Five stopped. Shit, had Klaus talked to her?! This was getting dangerous. "Yeah. The person I’m looking for has this."

Eleven nodded. "He was here yesterday. He said trespass."

"What?" Five exclaimed. Then he realized that just like Five had, Klaus must have initially assumed the driveway was a road, too. "Have you seen him since then?"

"No," Eleven said, "but I can find him."

"How?"

"Come here." Eleven turned her back and began walking toward a bedroom. Five followed her inside the house, but before he could close the front door, it shut swiftly on its own.

"The hell?" Five exclaimed before turning his eyes back to Eleven, who was wiping a drop of blood from her nose. She turned back around and Five followed her to the bedroom. Once inside, Eleven picked up a pink radio tape recorder and placed it on the ground, and she sat cross-legged in front of it.

"What are you doing?" Five asked as he cautiously sat down on the bed.

"No talking," Eleven ordered as she turned on the radio and adjusted the dial to where only static was heard. She pulled out a black handkerchief and tied it around her face as a blindfold.

Five had no clue what to think as the girl's nose began bleeding again while she sat in silence. What exactly was she trying to accomplish? "Eleven---"

"Quiet," Eleven ordered again as she continued sitting in a trance-like state. Within a few moments she yanked off her blindfold with a horrified expression. "He’s in the Upside-Down."

"The  _ what? _ " Five obviously had no clue what she was saying.

"The Upside-Down," Eleven repeated, her voice matching her expression. "A bad place. Very bad." Then she appeared confused. "But I closed the gate."

"What gate?" Five demanded, before realizing that Eleven must not have been much educated at the lab. But how did she leave and end up living with Chief Hopper?

"The gate to the Upside-Down," Eleven answered. "What’s his name?"

"Klaus."

"It has Klaus," Eleven said, still horrified.

" _ What _ has Klaus?" Five demanded. "Where is he? How can we get to him?"

Eleven sadly shook her head. "I don’t know. I have to find where it’s coming from."

" _ What  _ is  _ it?! _ " Five was sick of Eleven's half-assed statements.

"The Mind Flayer," Eleven said.

"What is a Mind Flayer?"

"A bad monster," Eleven said. "A bad monster has Klaus. It’s in his mind."

_ It’s in his mind, _ Five repeated the words to himself in his own mind. Well, that would explain Klaus' odd behavior. But how the hell would this girl know how to find him when she was just sitting there.

Then he remembered the door slamming. Eleven's nose was bleeding then, too. "You have powers, don’t you?"

Eleven looked at him, startled.

Five knew he would regret this, but he needed to save Klaus from wherever he was. So he said, "I have powers, too." With that, he zapped to the living room and then back to the bedroom.

"You never answered," Eleven seemed unflinched by Five's display of powers. "Were you in the lab?"

Now Five understood. "No. I’m actually not from around here. But I was born with this power." Then he switched back to the subject at hand. "We need to find Klaus. How can we get to where he is?"

Eleven was quiet for a moment. "There is a way, but we’ll need help. Mike's coming over after school. He can help us. So can Lucas, Dustin, Will and Max."

" _ Who? _ " Five exclaimed. Then he said, "No. Don’t involve your friends." It was bad enough that Five was talking to Eleven. Any other interaction could potentially damage the time continuum. Five wasn’t sure how much he might have already impacted it.

"But we need help," Eleven repeated.

Five sighed. "Okay, then. We’ll get help. But not from your friends. My brothers and sisters are with me, and they all have superpowers, too."

Eleven narrowed her eyes at Five. "Who  _ are _ you?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Klaus has a not-so-pleasant flashback about providing "payment" to a drug dealer. Not very detailed, though.

"And that’s how everything went down."

Diego had just explained the events of the day that had started by Luther shielding him from beating Five to a pulp and ended with him and Klaus running down Hazel and Cha-Cha with the ice cream truck.

"I wish I would’ve found out more about what happened to him," Diego continued, "but that was just a really fucked-up day."

"Hey."

Diego and Allison were interrupted as Vanya stood before them.

"Are Klaus or Five back yet?" She asked uneasily.

Diego stared at the ground, still unable to make eye contact with the woman who killed their mother and Pogo. "Not yet."

Allison got up and walked over to Luther, who was practicing his kickboxing. Vanya cautiously sat down next to Diego. "He knows you didn’t mean it."

"What do you know?" Diego shot a glare at her. "How would you know someone else's mind when yours is so fucked up?"

Vanya blinked. Diego regretted saying that, but not enough to state that aloud.

"I know, Diego." Vanya's voice quivered. "And I know you can never forgive me. I can’t forgive myself." She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

And that was when something shifted in Diego. He looked at his adopted sister. The one he loathed for writing that book. The one who…no, not killed them. It wasn’t her. Something else evil inside did.  _ It _ killed them by taking over her mind. But here was Vanya, back to herself. Hating herself for what that thing made her do. He couldn’t hate Vanya. He hated the thing inside her, but not the true Vanya Hargreeves.

Before Diego knew it, he found himself taking Vanya's hand. Startled, Vanya looked at him.

"I sh-sh-shouldn’t…"  _ Damn stutter! _ Diego thought to himself. "...have said that."

Vanya shook her head, the tears now flowing. "Yes, you should! I  _ am _ messed up! How could I have done all those things?!"

Diego let go of Vanya's hand and instead wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling his wailing sister close. "No. That wasn’t you.  _ This, _ " he squeezed her arm, "this is you."

The two said nothing further as Diego held Vanya as she sobbed into his shirt.

They were interrupted when Five appeared in a flash before them. Diego jumped while Vanya quickly pulled away. "Jesus, Five!" Diego glared at him.

"What’s going on?" Luther quickly joined them with Allison.

"Klaus is in trouble," Five said.

"Did you find him?" Diego eagerly asked.

"No, but I have a way of doing so. But you guys need to come with me. I’ll explain on the way."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Half an hour later Five, Luther, Diego, Allison and Vanya were seated in the cabin living room, having become acquainted with Eleven and her powers. Eleven remained on the floor, her back turned to the "snowy" channel on the TV set, as she blindfolded herself.

_ Eleven opened her eyes in the void. She slowly walked to the figure in the distance. She approached Klaus, whose eyes were tightly shut, and took his hand. _

_ "Klaus. I want to see where you’ve been. I want to know what happened." _

_ Klaus' eyes shot open as he stared at Eleven. She heard yelling in the distance. She looked over Klaus' shoulder and saw a little boy sitting on the floor, crying and covering his ears. _

"There’s a boy," the blindfolded Eleven said to the siblings in the living room.

"Who’s the boy?" Diego demanded.

"Shh, quiet," Five whispered.

_ Eleven looked at her surroundings. She and the boy were now in a--- _

"In a tomb."

"What?!" Luther exclaimed.

"The boy. Crying in a tomb."

_ "KLAUS!" Horrific blue faces screeched at him. "HELP US, KLAUS!" _

_ Klaus' back remained scrunched up against the wall as he screamed. _

_ A few clicks, and then a heavy door opened. A man stood in the entryway. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Number Four. Have you overcome your fear of the dead?" _

"Number Four."

Five exchanged glances with the others. "Yes, that’s what our dad called him," Five said to Eleven. "Number Four."

After another pause, Eleven spoke again. "His Papa locked him back in."

" _ What? _ " Luther and Diego exclaimed simultaneously.

"Where?" Diego demanded adain.

"In a tomb. Ghosts are screaming. His Papa wants him to stop being afraid."

Diego couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did that bastard of a "father" train Klaus by  _ locking him in a mausoleum?  _ "Jesus," he muttered.

_ Eleven watched the now teenage Klaus crawl out of his bedroom and down the fire escape. He rounded the corner and approached a scary-looking man. _

_ "Do you have any?" Klaus pleaded. "I’m desperate." _

_ The man pulled out a plastic bag. "Fifty bucks." _

_ "Can I owe you?" _

_ The man's lips turned upward into a sinister grin. "You can pay me another way." _

_ With that, the man wrapped his arms around the horrified Klaus, and they suddenly vanished into smoke. _

_ Flash-forward to older teen Klaus standing before Sir Reginald Hargreeves. "Number Four, I’m afraid I have some bad news." _

"Ben."

"What about Ben?" Vanya inquired to Eleven.

"Ben is gone."

"She must mean when Ben was killed," Luther guessed, reminding Diego that as far as he knew, Klaus had yet to be able to contact Ben since their time jump to here.

After a few more moments of silence, Eleven said, "Kidnapped."

"Yeah, he was kidnapped recently," Five said. "That’s where you’re at now?"

"Fighting."

That made no sense to Diego. "Fighting, where?"

"In the war."

Diego stopped and took a double-take. " _ What _ war?"

"He got there with a briefcase."

Five's eyes lit up. "So, that was when he went back in time."

Diego quickly exchanged glances with his siblings. " _ What? _ " He and Luther exclaimed simultaneously. 

"Yeah, for ten months," Five told them. "He never told you?"

"Dave."

Who the hell was Dave?

"Dave is gone." Tears rolled down Eleven's face. "Klaus came back."

_ Shit. _ Now everything from that one day made sense to Klaus. How his behavior had completely changed from being a flaky, overly-talkative junkie to someone who actually showed his feelings and that he truly cared for his siblings. Diego so desperately wanted to find Klaus, not just to apologize for the things he had said, but to get Klaus to open up to him. Most importantly, Diego wanted Klaus to know he was loved.

"I think I see it." Eleven broke Diego's train of thought. "I think I see where it got him."

_ Eleven stood in front of the big building surrounded by rain, thunder and lightning. She slowly walked inside. _

_ And that was when she saw Klaus standing before the Mind Flayer. But he wasn’t alone. Behind him stood a man with black hair and black leather jacket. "Klaus!" The man screamed. "You can do this! You can fight this thing inside you!" _

_ The man turned and saw Eleven. "Please help my brother! Please get him out of here!" _

"I found him," Eleven announced, still blindfolded, and still wherever she was.

"Let’s do this." Five reached out and grabbed Eleven's hand, as he had planned. "Ready?"

Just then, Diego lurched forward and grabbed Five's other hand as he, Five and Eleven all vanished from the cabin.

They reappeared inside an abandoned building.

"What the hell, Diego?" Five exclaimed as Diego let go of him.

"I need to do this for him!" Diego yelled.

"You shouldn’t have come here."

Diego, Five and Eleven turned to the sound of Klaus' voice, as he stood about ten yards from them. Behind him was a large spider-looking creature.

"Klaus!" Diego cried. "We’re here to help you!"

Klaus stared at him coldly. "I told you to leave me alone."

Eleven stared Klaus down. The next thing anyone knew, Eleven used her powers to telekinetically lift Klaus from the ground and reel him to the others.

"Now!" Five exclaimed, grabbing Klaus and Diego's hands. Eleven quickly grabbed Diego's other hand as the four disappeared in a flash of blue light. 


	7. Chapter 7

An explosion of blue sent Luther, Allison and Vanya jumping backwards as Five reappeared with Eleven, Diego and Klaus.

"Guys!" Luther exclaimed after a moment of collecting his bearings. "Are you all right? Klaus?"

Diego blinked before observing his brother, who quickly rubbed his forehead. "Klaus?" Diego cautiously crawled over to his brother’s side and reluctantly lifted his hand to place on Klaus' shoulder.

Klaus flinched at the touch. Diego quickly jerked his hand back, as Klaus slowly turned to face him with cold, lifeless green eyes. "You should have left me there," Klaus said in the same icy tone he had apparently adopted since this all had started with him. "He knows where we are."

"Klaus!" Diego, without thinking, grabbed Klaus' shoulders. "This isn’t you---"

Klaus quickly shoved Diego away and scrambled to stand up. "This  _ is _ me now! We are one!"

Klaus started toward the door. Eleven quickly stared at the door as the locks reattached themselves.

Klaus abruptly turned to face Eleven. "Let me  _ out! _ " He charged toward her.

" _ Don’t! _ " Vanya abruptly yelled as her own power surged, sending Klaus flying against the wall. He slid down unconsciously into a lump on the floor.

"Shit!" Diego quickly rushed to Klaus and placed his fingers on Klaus' neck. Pulse was strong, thank Christ.

Eleven turned to Vanya, eyes widening. "Are you … like me?"

Vanya quickly glanced at the even-numbered brothers before turning back to Eleven. "Yes," Vanya said solemnly as she slowly approached Eleven. "Yes, but no." Tears formed in her eyes. "I’m not like you, if you never used your powers to harm innocent people." Her voice broke.

Diego looked up from his brother whose head he had nestled in his lap. "Vanya, don’t."

Eleven looked intently at Vanya. "I hurt Lucas once. I didn’t mean to. They were fighting."

Vanya's lower lip quivered as Eleven took her hand.

" _ Who _ was fighting?" Five demanded.

"Who is Lucas?" Luther added without missing a beat.

"Lucas is my friend. I didn’t mean to."

"Who was he fighting?" Five repeated.

"Mike," Eleven said, keeping her eyes on the distraught Vanya. 

Five sighed impatiently. "Who’s Mike?"

"My boyfriend."

Diego turned back to his still-unconscious brother. "How are we going to help Klaus? There has to be a way to get this thing out of him."

Eleven paused. "Will said he likes it cold."

"Wait," Five realized something important. "William Byers?"

Eleven slowly nodded. "My friend, too."

"Who is he, Five?" Luther inquired. 

"The kid who was mistaken for dead." Five then faced Eleven. "That wasn’t a chemical spill, was it?"

They were interrupted by a sound of white noise coming from the CB radio in the corner. "El, this is Mike; do you copy? El, this is Mike; do you copy? Over."

Eleven raced to the CB and grabbed the receiver. "Yes, Mike."

"Hey," the pubescent teenage male voice emitted from the radio. "I’m totally sorry, but I have a dentist's appointment after school. I don’t think I’ll get there before Hopper comes home. Over."

"That’s okay, Mike."

"I’ll call you tonight, okay? Over."

"Okay."

"Over and out." With that, the radio was silent.

"What did you mean by 'he likes it cold'?" Five quickly reverted back to the current situation.

"Joyce said to burn it out of him," Eleven said.

"Wait, Joyce?" Five repeated. "Does she work at Melvald's?"

Eleven looked at Five, confused. "What is Melvald's?"

Five sighed, "Never mind." He then thought back to the pictures of Will in the articles depicting his disappearance and return. His hair and facial features were virtually identical to those of Joyce.

Diego then placed his hand on Klaus' sweaty cheek. It was icy to the touch. Klaus had always been cold, but this was far more extreme. Plus, if Klaus was sweating, he should have been burning up. "This thing affects body temperature," Diego concluded aloud.

Five appeared deep in thought. "Burn it out of him." Suddenly, he looked to have a Eureka moment. "If we expose him to excessive heat, that will burn the monster out of him."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Within a few minutes Five, Luther, Allison and Vanya were tearing apart the shed next to the cabin. They collected numerous space heaters. "They must have burned it out of Will here," Five told them.

Meanwhile, Diego remained in the cabin, still holding on to Klaus, as Evelyn sat down next to him. "I saw him."

Diego looked up from his brother to Eleven. "Come again?"

"I saw him. Before."

Diego's heart skipped a beat. "What?!"

"He was sorry he trespassed."

"When was this?" Diego demanded. 

"Yesterday. He seemed … different."

"Different, how?"

"He…" Eleven appeared to be in deep thought before continuing, "He was nice. But he looked sad."

Diego's heart sank. He didn’t want to imagine how much Klaus had been hurting by Diego's words. He looked back down at his brother and wiped a lock of sweaty curls from his brother’s forehead. "I said things to him I shouldn’t have."

Eleven placed her hand on Diego's arm. Diego turned back to her.

"I hurt Lucas. He didn’t like me. But now he is my friend."

"Hey, Eleven?" Diego inquired. "What all did you see in Klaus' memories? The tomb? The war?"

"His Papa was a bad man. Like my Papa."

Diego waited for her to continue.

"My Papa locked me in a room when I disobeyed him," Eleven explained. "Very dark, very close walls. Klaus' Papa locked him in the tomb. Papa said, 'need to get over your fear.' Bad, bad ghosts screaming. Klaus begging Papa to let him out."

So, Diego was right. All those times that Klaus was separated from the other siblings for his "special training," that asshole had locked him in a mausoleum. Now Diego got why Klaus used drugs to suppress that superpower. Diego felt sick to his stomach.

"And the war?" Diego brought himself to ask.

"Vietnam."

"Shit."

"Dave was Klaus' … boyfriend," Eleven went on. "There was blood. Klaus yelling for help. But Dave was gone. Klaus was with him, but Dave was gone."

Diego wrapped an arm around his brother’s chest. "I’m sorry, bro," Diego whispered as he blinked back tears. "I’m sorry you went through this all alone."

"Not alone."

Diego jerked his head back up. "What?!"

"I saw Ben with him. In there. And he’s here now."

Diego's heart skipped a beat. "Ben?"

Eleven paused. "He says hi. And to save Klaus."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The others returned with the space heaters and Five lit a fire in the fireplace. Vanya telekinetically moved Eleven's bed from her bedroom to by the fireplace. The guys all tied Klaus to the bed, started all of the heaters, and waited.

Klaus' eyes shot open. "What the…" Klaus jerked his hands, but his wrists were firmly tied. He tried kicking, but so were his ankles. "Let me go!"

"Klaus," Diego grabbed both his hands. "I’m here."

"Let me go!  _ Let me go! _ " Klaus' voice became louder and higher as he flailed wildly. " _ LET ME GO! _ "

"No!" Diego continued pinning Klaus down despite Klaus' adrenaline-fueled thrashing. "We’re going to get this thing out of you, and then we’re going to talk!"

" _ GODDAMNIT, LET ME GO!!! _ " Klaus screeched, jerking around more violently.

" _ YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! _ " Diego screamed back as it took every ounce of his strength to hold Klaus down. " _ THAT FUCKING THING IN YOU IS! _ " 

Luther and Five stood directly behind Diego, ready to intervene if Klaus' strength was too great. But they would not unless absolutely necessary. If anyone could get through to Klaus it would be Diego, but Diego also hoped he had not fully lost his brother due to his own words.

For several heart-wrenching minutes that seemed like hours, the siblings all watched in shock and sadness (including a hint of such from Five) as Klaus continued screaming in agony as Diego held him down.

"Oh, my God," Vanya tearfully exclaimed as black lines appeared around Klaus' face and neck.

Just then, Klaus tore out of the ropes that had confined him and shot upright. Luther quickly dove into action as both he and Diego fought to force Klaus back down.

Klaus let out one more gut-wrenching scream as a long black smoky funnel shot out of his mouth. Eleven quickly opened the door with her telekinesis as the funnel flew through it. Vanya and Allison broke their embrace and rushed to the porch, where they watched the cloud soar to the sky, where it dissipated. 

"Klaus!" Diego tearfully stroked the hair of Klaus who was now unconscious again, the dark circles around his eyes more prominent than Diego could ever remember. "Come back to me, Klaus. Come back to me." He gently shook his brother while Luther and Five unplugged the heaters. "Please come back to me!"

Klaus slowly opened his eyes. His blank stare terrified Diego. But then Klaus laid eyes on Diego, and they started to focus.

"Diego?" Klaus said weakly as a single tear fell.

Diego quickly pulled Klaus up into a bone-crushing embrace. "I’ve got you, bro." Diego could not stop the floodgates himself as he hugged Klaus even more tightly. "I’ve got you." Before he knew it, Diego blurted out, "I love you, brother."

A single sob escaped from Klaus' lips. "I love you too."

The siblings and Eleven stood and watched as the two brothers clung to each other, crying tears of joy. Klaus was back with them. And he was going to be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Klaus finally have their much-needed conversation.

As Diego sat on the couch holding a very weakened Klaus, Five and the other siblings put the cabin back in order and brought the space heaters to the shed.

"Allison," Five said as they got ready to close up the shed. "Is there any way that your power would still work by whispering?"

Allison exchanged glances with Luther, while Vanya stared guiltily at the ground. She looked back at Five and shrugged.

"You want her to rumor Eleven," Luther figured out.

"Exactly," Five said. "She cannot remember anything that happened with us. It would have a massive impact on the timeline if she did."

"But that thing," Vanya interjected. "What if it’s still out there?"

"Oh, I can almost guarantee that it is." Five went on to remind the siblings of the upcoming fire to Starcourt Mall, which Five had since realized was in close proximity to both Hawkins Lab and the abandoned steel mill where the creature had first overtaken Klaus. "These two incidents are most definitely connected. It’s also obvious since Eleven lives with Chief Jim Hopper; remember, he was presumed dead from the mall fire when he was actually kidnapped by Russians. Whatever Eleven might have done to the Mind Flayer at the mall still needs to happen."

Luther nodded.

"Eleven will be all right, regardless," Five assured the gang. "But we need to rumor Eleven, and then we need to get back to 2019."

Five turned to Vanya, who had a look of dread on her face. "The apocalypse," she whispered.

Allison quickly hugged Vanya.

"You’re getting your powers under control," Luther reminded Vanya. "You’re not going to cause it. We'll keep training you, and…" Luther heaved a sigh. "...we’ll continue reconciling. We all need to."

Allison broke her embrace with Vanya to face her former childhood love. She nodded at him.

"We do need to wait until Klaus gets his strength back," Luther pointed out. "I don’t think his body is ready to handle it right now. Plus, we need to make sure that Ben is back with him."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Thank you for helping my brother," Diego kept a protective arm around Klaus (who was still too weak to stand) after the other siblings returned. "For helping all of us."

"Thank you, Eleven," Klaus smiled weakly at her.

They were interrupted by the transmission of Morse code from the CB. Eleven quickly ran to the CB and began reading the cheat sheet above it.

However, Five knew Morse code, of course. (He knew everything, after all!) He quickly translated the message. "It’s Hopper. Says he will be home soon."

Eleven stared at Five before walking back to the group.

"We need to get out of here." Luther then looked at Allison.

Allison walked up to Eleven, bent down, and whispered in Eleven's ear: " _ I heard a rumor that after we left this cabin, you forgot all about us, and anything that you did with us. _ "

The siblings watched Eleven's eyes turn milky white, and then back to their original brown color.

They quietly walked out the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eleven stared at the cabin door. What was she going to do again? Hopper had just signaled that he was coming home. She wasn’t going anywhere if he was coming home.

She finally shrugged it off as having habitually expecting Mike to be here. But he was at the dentist.

She turned and walked back to her room to wait for Hop.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once the siblings reached the end of the driveway, Five had everyone hold hands and he teleported them back to their makeshift campsite in the woods. Several out-of-place-looking adults would raise enough questions, but Diego carrying Klaus would heighten any suspicions.

"I’ll be back later," Five said, and with that he zapped away once again.

He appeared outside Hawkins Lab and quickly jumped inside. He unloaded his backpack and replaced the files he had taken that morning. He knew that the FBI would soon be investigating these files and, of course, he needed to preserve as much as he knew how, so to not disrupt the time continuum.

First, he skimmed through Will Byers' file, which detailed the tests that Dr. Sam Owens had conducted on Will throughout most of 1984. This was the same Sam Owens who had uncovered the truth about the Russian procurement of Starcourt Mall. Five knew that thankfully, for the sake of the innocents involved, Sam Owens was nothing like Martin Brenner --- Eleven's "Papa."

After placing the alphabetical files in their correct slots, he opened the second numerical file drawer and pulled out  _ 011. _ There he read about the experiments, how she somehow found a creature while in a sensory deprivation tank, and the November 6, 1983 event in which she had first mistakenly opened the Gate.

Past those November 6 file notes was a copy of a police report from Illinois detailing a robbery at the home of Raymond Carroll dated November 4, 1984 --- the night before the destruction at Hawkins Lab. According to the report, his young daughter had contacted the police, but Carroll had been uncooperative in providing any details of the robbery or description of the subjects. From what both Carroll's young daughters stated, however, the burglars matched the descriptions of a group of dangerous outlaw teenagers wanted for a slew of crimes in several states. Of course, Five figured out that Eleven must have been involved as it was in his file folder. Maybe someday he would find out more.

Five pulled Vanya's autobiography out of his backpack and scanned through all of his calculations. He hoped that when the time came for him and the others to jump back to their present, he wouldn’t screw things up. Jumping fifty-five years solo de-aged him by forty-five years; how would jumping thirty-four years with five other siblings and one ghost pan out?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once settled back at camp Diego cooked a can of soup over the open fire and happily observed Klaus happily scarfing it down. As the sun began to set, Diego led Klaus to his makeshift bed. For the first time since they were kids, when Diego had occasionally spent the night with Klaus after Klaus had awakened screaming from nightmares (which Diego finally now understood why), Diego wrapped the blanket around himself and Klaus as the latter lay his head on Diego's chest.

Diego didn’t care what anyone might see or say. He had almost lost Klaus, and had both emotionally and physically hurt his brother before that. Klaus needed to know he was truly loved, and that Diego was wrong to say the things he did.

"How are you feeling?" Diego gave Klaus' shoulder a squeeze.

"Tired," Klaus mumbled. "Drained, but okay."

"Klaus…" Diego inhaled deeply as he pulled his brother closer. "I’m sorry."

Klaus slowly slid his hand on Diego's arm. "You’re right," his voice quivered. "It was my fault."

"No!" Diego tightened his grip on his brother even more. "I never should have said that. And more than anything, I never should have hit you."

"I forgive you, D."

Diego choked back his tears at Klaus' use of his childhood nickname, as well as Klaus' unbelievable ability to forgive. "No, Klaus," Diego felt his own voice break. He quickly swallowed the lump in his throat. "You need to know  _ this is not your fault. _ You didn’t know she got shot. I know you wouldn’t have left her to die if you had. And if you hadn’t escaped they would have killed you, too. They also would’ve eventually killed you if nobody came. I’m sorry that I didn’t know you were kidnapped." Diego heard Klaus sniffle. He continued, "I was angry. I had lost Mom, then Eudora, and then Mom again." Diego felt a tear roll down his face. "It was too much, and I took it out on you. I’ll never forgive myself for that."

"But I ratted Five out. All for drugs," Klaus said, seemingly bitter at himself.

"Klaus, we all were there when Eleven went through your memories." Diego took another deep breath. "I know about the mausoleum."

Diego felt Klaus stiffen at that. "Dad said my fear of ghosts was my weakness." Then Klaus began trembling. "I tried to overcome it. But the ghosts were always too loud. Too hideous. I couldn’t take it. And then after all those years, Dad said I was his greatest disappointment."

" _ What?! _ " Diego then brought his voice back down. "When did he say this?"

"When I saw him in the afterl---" Klaus stopped himself. "I mean, when I conjured him and he told me the truth about his death."

"Wait." Diego slightly propped himself so he could make eye contact with his brother. "What do you mean, the afterlife?"

Klaus remained silent.

"Tell me. Please," Diego implored.

Klaus sighed. "Please don’t get mad."

Diego once again squeezed Klaus. "Nothing you say or do will upset me right now." Diego was just beyond grateful that his brother was back safe and sound, and recovering from the recent trauma.

"You won’t be mad at me."

"Who hurt you?" Diego demanded. 

Klaus hesitated. "It wasn’t his fault."

" _ Whose _ fault?"

Klaus let out a sigh. "Luther. He was high."

" _ What?! _ " Diego exclaimed.

"No, no!" Klaus quickly sat up, but then grabbed his forehead. "Shit."

Diego grabbed Klaus' shoulders.

"I’m okay, I’m okay," Klaus mumbled. "Just dizzy." He quickly resumed lying with his head on Diego's chest. "Luther didn’t do it. But…well, when Luther found out about the moon…remember the next day when we found him drinking at the pub? Well, he’d started his bender the day before, while you and the others were out looking for Harold Jenkins. And remember how I said he hooked up with that chick from the rave because he was high? He left the house, drunk, with the intention of getting high. I didn’t want to go find him…I was sick, remember? From the withdrawals. But Ben talked me into finding him. The chick was there with some dude who got jealous and went after Luther with a buddy who had a baseball bat. I tried to stop them but got thrown to the ground."

Diego felt his blood boil. "I’m going to kill that oversized ape."

Klaus then tightened his own grip on Diego. "No, please? Remember, he did get payback. I mean, I hadn’t meant to out his fling to everyone, especially Allison. But the look on his face? Priceless! And before that, I had a grand ol' time teasing Luther about his inaugural sexual encounter."

Diego chuckled. "True."

"Plus," Klaus continued. "All the times you put yourself out there for me. Taking me in during the middle of Winter despite that cranky old man not allowing you to have overnight guests. The times you picked me up from jail or the hospital. All of the times I took advantage of your kindness. I forgive Luther. He wouldn’t have hurt me if he was sober."

"Wait. If someone else attacked you at the rave, how did Luther hurt you?"

Klaus stiffened again, obviously not having meant to make whatever had happened known. Despite Klaus having only recently personally grown, he still had a big mouth. But now Diego was grateful for this flaw, as he obviously had many questions left to ask his brother.

"Klaus," he said with authority.

Klaus sighed again. "Well, remember that he was drunk. But when I first found him at Dad's liquor cabinet, Luther ordered me to get Dad. I couldn’t yet because I wasn’t clean enough. So he choked me."

Diego felt his fury rise more. "That bastard."

"Please," Klaus begged. "He was hurting bad. He really believed that Dad sent him up to the moon because Dad couldn’t stand the sight of him."

Diego cringed, remembering his words to Luther during the funeral.  _ He had to ship you a million miles away! That’s how much he couldn’t stand the sight of you! _ Yeah, it was much harder for Diego to acknowledge his part in his lifelong conflicts with Luther. And Luther had come around since their escape from the apocalypse. "I’ll leave him alone," Diego finally promised.

Klaus again squeezed Diego's arm.

Of course, Diego was far from done with his questioning. He carefully placed his hand on the back of his brother’s head and ran his fingers through Klaus' curls. "Who was Dave?"

Klaus lay still.

"I know about the time travel to Vietnam," Diego continued. "And Dave was the one who lost."

Diego felt Klaus' shoulders heave.

"Talk to me, Klaus," he said quietly.

"We fought together on the front lines," Klaus' voice shook. "He was kind. Gentle. Strong. Beautiful."

Diego tried to break a smile. "He must've been a very special person to put up with all of your weird-ass shit."

"He was." Diego could feel Klaus' tears soaking his shirt as Klaus spoke. "He loved me, despite knowing I was a junkie. He…he was perfect. He was perfect and he was taken from me!"

With that, the floodgates opened and Diego held onto Klaus as his brother continued releasing his pent-up grief and anguish. "Let it out, bro." As Klaus sobbed nonstop, Diego again thought back to the day he followed Klaus inside the bar, and later when they followed Hazel and Cha-Cha to the motel. He realized how much of a jerk he had acted even after vaguely learning that Klaus had lost a loved one. Less than an hour later, when Klaus had disobeyed Diego's order to stay in the car, Diego had said,  _ If I don’t come out in two minutes, that means I’m probably dead. _ And then Klaus saved his life, and how did Diego respond? By calling Klaus an idiot. And here, Diego had been fuming at how Luther had treated Klaus, but Diego had punched Klaus. Luther might have been drunk when he strangled Klaus, but Diego was sober. Along with helping Klaus to forgive himself for his past drug-influenced actions, Diego had to forgive his own self.

Klaus' sobbing gradually decreased. Diego said nothing as Klaus eventually lay silent, his breaths evening out, having obviously fallen asleep. It took a bit longer for sleep to hit Diego, however.

"I love you, bro," Diego whispered to his slumbering brother. "I will always be here for you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Throughout the night as the others slept, Five gathered all of the clothing they had taken. He stuffed everything inside a bag, leaving out the articles of clothing each sibling had worn from 2019. He teleported to the Goodwill thrift store and left the bag next to the back door.

By daylight, Klaus was much stronger. And he confirmed that Ben was back with him.

"Let’s do this, guys," Five said as he held out his hands. The six siblings and their ghost brother gathered as the blue force stirred like a tornado above them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this last chapter turned into two chapters, and possibly three; we’ll see how it goes. I will try to have the completed work posted today or tomorrow. Thank you all for the interest and feedback!

Number Five wandered down the sidewalk and observed the boarded-up vacant buildings around the once-thriving community which had since virtually turned into a ghost town.

It was Five's first visit back to Hawkins, Indiana, since his family had dropped in on the outskirts in 1985, seven months ago.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The siblings had returned to 2019, arriving at around the time Luther had locked Vanya in the chamber, with more success and close calls than Five would have anticipated.

As the portal between Hawkins 1985 and the Academy 2019 had begun to form, the siblings were horrified to see Vanya's eyes and tuxedo suit glow white once again. But it turned out that Vanya's unintentional release of power (which the siblings had since concluded was a fear-based instinctive reaction to the chaotic scene, as she had been unconscious when everyone had time-traveled before) resulted in Allison returning with an uninjured throat and vocal cords, Five returning in the body of a twenty-nine-year-old, and --- to everyone’s amazement and unspeakable joy --- Ben returning fully alive!

However, both Five and Klaus had collapsed upon return, requiring the medical attention of Grace, who had determined that the amount of time-travel that each of them had done over the past week had significantly weakened them. Klaus had awakened after a couple of days, but Five had remained comatose for over a week until regaining consciousness himself.

Of course, the siblings came clean with Pogo, having had no choice due to Ben's return and Five's appearance. Included in the confessions was the tearful account by Vanya of what she had done to Pogo and the Academy in the previous timeline. Pogo apologized for his part in everything, explaining his sense of indebtedness to Sir Reginald Hargreeves for making Pogo who he was today.

The family took the time to help both Five and Klaus recover, and to eventually train both Vanya and Klaus  _ correctly _ with use of their powers; and most importantly, they spent much time reconnecting as a family.

Vanya was able to use the fact that her two brothers were gravely ill to get out of performing at the concert; the combination of her knowing that Leonard/Harold had killed Helen Cho so that Vanya would get First Chair, and what Vanya remembered of her own literal destruction of the theater, left Vanya with no desire to perform due to her conscience. As a result, the concert was cancelled, but she was also demoted back to Third Chair; Vanya was okay with that. However, due to her unexplained absences Vanya lost her teaching position at the conservatory, and like Diego and Klaus she moved back to the Academy. 

When Harold Jenkins' body was discovered, police ruled his death to be from suicide as an Umbrella Academy fan mourning the loss of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, as there had been other fan suicides reported throughout the country that week. After some time had passed, Vanya brought Klaus to Leonard's home, where Klaus was able to conjure Helen and learn where she was buried. An anonymous call was made to police, and Helen's family received closure.

Allison returned to L.A. and resumed her counseling sessions, and by Fall she was allowed supervised visits with Claire. On the siblings' 30th birthday Allison received a special gift: a call from her agent stating she was cast in the lead role for a new film --- the first time Allison did so without rumoring the casting director; filming was to begin after the New Year/Decade.

Of course, the biggest deal in all of this was that  _ Ben was alive! _ After embracing the others (including Five, who allowed it  _ just this once _ ), Ben expelled a tentacle, wrapped it around Luther, and flung his brother across the living room floor for locking up Vanya in the first place, as well as for choking Klaus and letting him die at the rave; Ben and Luther then reconciled, and all was well.

After time had passed, the siblings dealt with about a month's worth of press coverage over the reappearance of the two siblings presumed (and  _ reported _ , in the case of the latter) dead, Five and Ben. The two brothers had made up a story about Five jumping to the past and Ben joining him four years later, and they were able to convince the press that it was to the benefit and safety of the world that they not discuss their activities during that time period.

Of course, Five was done with time-traveling; Grace had said that this last time-jump had nearly killed him, and Five was ready to start living some kind of relatively normal life.

Meanwhile, Five had spent some time at the Argyle Library making sure that things still happened in Hawkins as they were supposed to…and they did. And it turned out that the asshole reporter who had made the remark about Five not being in school was one of the reporters who had died in the Starcourt Mall fire (along with the Hawkins Post editor and his family). During his research Five had found some newspaper commentary by a reporter named Nancy Byers; one depicted her time as an intern for the Hawkins Post during which time she was consistently sexually harassed by the all-male staff, and another described how Murray Bauman had inspired her to become a journalist in the first place. Of course, Five had noted the Byers surname, but it turned out that she had married William Byers' brother. Before long, Five even learned that Joyce at the general store was actually  _ Will Byers' mother. _ He was grateful not only that he did not screw anything up there by interacting with someone directly involved in fighting the Mind Flayer, but also…neither did Klaus; Five had put two and two together while reading an op ed from Joyce in the mid-nineties advocating gay rights, during which she recalled helping a sweet young man who had been harrassed by an anti-Starcourt Mall petitioner ten years prior. 

Then, there was the article that Five had regretted ever telling Klaus: the one that depicted the gathering of formal locals on November 6, 2013 --- the thirtieth anniversary of the "chemical spill" --- in which Dustin Henderson admitted that he and his friends meet up every year to commemorate the anniversary of meeting an important friend just a day later. Klaus had insisted that Five take him to Hawkins on the upcoming sixth of November, to visit the town that had brought healing to him, promising Five that if he somehow saw Eleven he would pretend they had never met.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And that was how Five got coerced into linking himself with Klaus when he made the spatial jump to Hawkins. Of course, they weren’t alone; Diego and Ben both insisted on joining them to keep Klaus in line (and to be honest, Five liked having Ben around so he could have someone nearly intelligent as himself with whom to converse). So, as Five wandered along the empty buildings, his three even-numbered brothers followed closely behind.

They weren’t the only ones there. Several groups and many individuals were scattered throughout the town square. The siblings stopped next to a man taking a selfie in front of the boarded-up former general store.

"Oh, hi," the slender man with a full head of dark hair chuckled sheepishly. "Believe it or not, I’m not a tourist."

"It’s okay," Ben laughed, shrugging.

"No," the man smiled. "I laugh sometimes at how this town draws tourists, especially this time of year, and now I’m doing touristy things. My best friend’s mom worked here when it was Melvald's General Store. She lives out of state now and wanted a picture of this place."

Five contained his surprise as he nodded back. Unless other women had ever worked there,  _ this was one of William Byers' friends. _ This could possibly even be  _ Mike Wheeler, Eleven's husband. _ Five eyed his other siblings, who appeared to be acting cool as well,  _ thankfully. _

"I’m guessing you’re not from around here," the man continued.

"You’re right," Five quickly piped up before anyone else could respond. "We were passing through, on our way to California to visit our sister," he lied, "and, of course, we decided to see whether this town was as exciting as people claim."

"And your conclusion?" The man inquired.

Five shrugged. "Just another town." Then he decided to probe the man further, seeing if his intuition was correct. "And why are  _ you _ here?"

"Well, to be honest," the man said, "Tomorrow is the anniversary of meeting my wife here, and my three best friends and I meet here every year today to play Dungeons and Dragons, like we used to do as kids."

Five swallowed. Well, shit; he was right.

"So where are you all from?" The man asked them.

"Mike!"

The group turned to the sound of the voice that interrupted them. The siblings froze as they saw approaching toward Mike the brunette woman whose face, despite now being in her late forties, still bore the same natural beauty which undoubtedly identified her as Jane "Eleven" Hopper Wheeler.

"Sorry, there was a line at the public restroom," Eleven explained as she joined Mike and slipped her hand in his. Then she turned to the group. "Hello."

Mike looked at her and then smiled at the siblings. "This is my wife, El. I’m sorry, I never got your names."

"Oh," Ben stammered. "I’m Ben."

"And I’m Klaus, and this is Diego---"

"Wait," Eleven stopped, eyeing Klaus. "You look familiar."

_ Shit. _ Five needed to think fast; Klaus might have matured some but he still wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and don’t get Five started on Diego. "That’s because we’re actually pretty famous," he quickly said.

Mike and Eleven exchanged confused glances.

"Ever hear of the Umbrella Academy?" Ben chimed in.

Mike's eyes widened. "That’s right! You were those superheroes from the two-thousands. Wait, so your sister in L.A., she’s Allison Hargreeves?"

Diego sighed. "Yes, that’s our sister."

Mike smiled warmly. "I’m sorry," he said sympathetically. "I won’t ask questions." He looked at his wife. "We definitely understand the frustration of being famous…or in our case, from a famous town."

Eleven nodded in agreement. "We live near Atlanta now, and we try to avoid telling people we’re from around here."

"Well, we should get going," Mike said. "It was nice meeting you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As they walked to the car, Mike detailed to Eleven his recollection of what superpower each of the Hargreeves siblings possessed. "The guy who was the most talkative, I think that was first kid that had gone missing. I think Ben was the other, and whose power kind of reminds us of…." He trailed off.

"Him." Eleven said softly.  _ The Mind Flayer. _ The massive otherworldly being that had taken her, Mike and their friends and her father several years to finally destroy.

"Anyway," Mike quickly broke the moment of awkward silence, "Diego has the skill I want: the ability to curve the trajectory of anything he throws. And I think Lucas wants…I think his name is Luther…that guy's superhuman strength; oh, and he actually spent time on the moon, something on Dustin's bucket list."

" _ How _ many were in the Umbrella Academy?"

"Six," Mike answered. "Klaus, the other guy you just met, can communicate with ghosts. And Allison, the actress, can alter anyone's reality by saying, 'I heard a rumor.'"

_ I heard a rumor…. _

"I bet any woman would want that ability," Mike chuckled.

_ I heard a rumor…. _

_ I _

_ heard _

_ a _

_ rumor _

_ She rumored me. The Mind Flayer. It got Klaus. _

"El?" Mike looked at his wife concerned as he unlocked the car door.

"I know where I met Klaus before."

It took the entire ride to Mr. Clarke's house for Eleven to explain the events that she could finally remember for the first time in nearly thirty-five years.

"That’s insane," Mike expelled a long breath as he parked the car. "Especially the part about Ben previously being a ghost. And Five was the only one who looked younger then? I guess however they jumped through time corrected those things." Mike then studied Eleven before sporting a sly grin. "You’re going to do it tonight, aren’t you?"

Eleven nodded. "I want to make sure he’s okay. And not just him; Vanya, too."

Mike nodded as he placed his hand on the car door handle. "You’re coming in for a few minutes to say hi to the guys, right?"

Eleven did greet the other three friends and Mr. Clarke, who was hosting them for the night, after which she and Mike had plans to celebrate their meeting anniversary the following evening.

Later at night in her motel room, Eleven turned on the sink faucet, blindfolded herself and sat on the floor, ready to pay her old friends a visit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego was restless. It was nearly midnight and he could simply not fall asleep after the weirdness from the visit to Hawkins earlier that day. He finally decided to get up and grab a snack from the kitchen. As he walked out into the hallway, he noticed a faint blue light coming from Klaus' bedroom. He cautiously approached the doorway.

Klaus was lying on his side, facing the doorway. His hands, folded below his face, were glowing bright blue.

_ Shit. _ Diego didn’t know what to do. He stood at the doorway contemplating, ready to jump into action at any necessary moment.


	10. Chapter 10

_ Klaus' eyes wandered around his completely-dark surroundings. He slowly glanced at the water under his feet. Shit, this was exactly like when that thing had him. But he was fine, right? _

_ "This is just a dream," Klaus said aloud, before seeing the figure to his distance slowly approach him. _

_ It was Eleven, in her current forty-eight-year-old form. "Hello, Klaus." _

_ Klaus continued to stare astoundingly for a moment. "You remember us." _

_ Eleven nodded. "Took a few minutes, but, yeah." _

_ "So, that thing?" Klaus asked warily. "It’s gone now, right? It’s not back in me?" _

_ "Yes," Eleven beamed. "It took some time after I first met you, but our friends and family all worked together in the process." She briefly described the key events from the time she had first opened the gate, her loss of powers, and the eventual final battle that ultimately saved the world. _

_ "You helped us save the world, too," Klaus gratefully smiled at her. _

_ "I realize that, but you all really saved the world by working together, the same way we did," Eleven pointed out. _

_ "Yeah, but you all did without superpowers," Klaus reminded Eleven. "Right? You said your telekinesis never returned." _

_ "You’re partially right," Eleven said. "Yes, my external powers were impacted from that bite, but my internal powers were enhanced. This ability I have now, to talk to people in their dreams, developed after I lost my telekinesis."  _

_ Klaus nodded, not certain what else to say. But then he wondered. "So, what have I done to be graced with your presence in my dream?" _

_ "There’s someone who wants to see you," Eleven said, "and apparently, he needed my help." _

_ "If it’s my adopted father, I believe he’s already said everything he’d needed to in the afterlife." Klaus rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear another lecture about himself being Reggie's greatest disappointment.  _

_ Eleven stared at him for a moment and then chuckled. "No, it’s not your father. But someone you’ve been looking for." _

_ With that, Klaus' hands glowed bright blue. He looked up from his hands and gasped at the sight in front of him. _

_ "Dave!" _

_ Indeed, the love of his life stood before him, still with the gaping hole in his chest. "Hello, Klaus." _

_ Klaus ran to his man and embraced him, strongly. "Oh, Dave!" He pulled back and looked into the eyes of his lover. Dave, the man who loved him, the man who saved him, the man who lost his life on the front lines. Klaus tearfully lifted his hand and ran it down his lover's face. "My sweet Dave." _

_ Dave wrapped his hands around Klaus' waist. "It’s you. Finally, it’s you." _

_ Klaus looked into Dave's beautiful eyes. "Yes, it’s me." More tears of joy spilled down Klaus' face as he laughed and caressed his lover's cheek. Then he stopped himself. "Wait. What do you mean, it’s finally me?" _

_ "Klaus!" Dave appeared astounded. "It took me fifty years to find you, and when I finally did, you disappeared." _

_ Klaus jerked back. "What?" Dave had seen Klaus but had not made contact? This made no sense. "What are you talking about?" _

_ Dave moved a hand into Klaus' hand. "You were in the attic, tied to a chair. You summoned me, and then --- well, time went backwards." _

_ "What?!" Klaus stared at his lover, not understanding what he was saying. _

_ "The day reset itself," Dave said shakily, obviously having noted Klaus' confusion and bewilderment. "You don’t remember any of it." _

_ Klaus stepped back, removing his hand from Dave's. "What do you mean?" _

_ "Um," Eleven interrupted. _

_ The two men turned to face her. _

_ "I think I know what Dave is talking about." Eleven approached Dave and held out her hand. "I want to see the day where you were back then." _

_ Dave stared at Eleven for a moment. Then he slowly nodded. "Okay." He held out his hand and closed his eyes. Eleven grabbed onto it, and then she grasped Klaus' hand with her other. _

_ In front of Klaus, Dave and Eleven, what resembled a large movie screen began playing, depicting Klaus sitting at the Academy living room bar, Diego in his arm sling tossing his knife in the air with his good hand, and Allison handing out coffees while Luther shared the grim news that the world was to end in three days. _

_ "Hold the phone," Klaus watched himself say on the screen. "We all died fighting this thing the first time around." _

_ "Klaus shockingly has a point." Klaus rolled his eyes at Diego’s response. "What gives us a win this time?" _

_ Klaus waited for Five to fall through the ceiling as he had at that exact time. Instead, he watched as Diego left to take care of Hazel and Cha-Cha, and then himself stagger out with Ben in tow. _

_ "Wait, I never saw Ben that day until…." Klaus trailed off as he watched Allison tell Luther she would be booking a flight to spend her last days with her daughter. He remained silent as he watched Diego tie him up, and Ben listening in on their conversation about Dave and those whom Diego had lost as well, before walking out. Klaus continued watching the footage of Diego retying him as Klaus protested, wanting one more hit. "Jesus, I was a dick to him," Klaus muttered as he saw himself "bribe" Diego by offering to conjure Patch. Then, finally, Dave appeared, just as the images rewound back to the family meeting that morning. _

_ "Wait." Klaus looked at Dave, and then Eleven. "So, you’re both telling me…that this all happened but Five erased it?" _

_ Dave nodded, sadly. "Yes. And afterward, God told me not to say these things to you. She…they, whoever…said that my presence would distract you from saving the world." _

_ "What the hell?" Klaus exclaimed. "When I was in the afterlife, God said that they didn’t even like me, and then sent me off to get raked over the coals by my dear old Daddy himself." Then Klaus realized something. "Ben. Where was he in all of this?" _

_ "I can bring him in this dream, if you want," Eleven offered. _

_ "No," Dave exclaimed. "I can explain." _

_ Klaus stepped back further, an uneasy feeling in his chest, as though both Dave and Ben had betrayed him. _

_ "Klaus," Dave stepped toward Klaus and held out his hand. "Please." _

_ Klaus looked into the now-wet eyes of his lover. Whatever anger he had within him quickly dissolved. Somehow, Dave hadn’t betrayed him; Klaus could tell. He slowly slipped his hand back into Dave's.  _

_ "Yes, Ben knew," Dave explained. "But God got to him, too, after the time reset. Ben said he would let me know when things were okay, when there was no longer the threat of an apocalypse. But then the next thing I knew, Ben wasn’t in the afterlife anymore, and God never bothered telling either of us that it was okay for you to see me." _

_ "That little bitch," Klaus muttered. _

_ Dave chuckled before taking Klaus' other hand. "Klaus," he said, then seriously, "I’m proud of you. For staying clean, and for helping your family." Dave slowly leaned in and embraced Klaus, kissing him on the lips. After they pulled away, Dave continued, "I’ll always watch over you. Meanwhile, go live your life, and find someone to love. No matter what happens, you and I will be reunited in eternity some day. Even if you have another partner. Love works differently in the afterlife than what you know in America. Once you get here for good, you’ll see what I mean. But that’s not going to happen to you for a very long time. Just know that I love you." _

_ "I love you, too, Dave." Klaus tearfully kissed Dave once more. Then, as Klaus stepped back, he watched Dave vanish before his eyes. _

_ Klaus looked down at his hands, back to their normal fleshy color. He then turned to face Eleven. "Thank you," he tearfully whispered. _

_ "We’re not done yet," Eleven said. _

_ Klaus raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Pray tell." _

_ Eleven held out her hand. "Someone wants to talk to Vanya. And we need your help for this to happen." _

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego remained standing at the doorway, observing his brother. With hands glowing, Klaus had sported a smile in his sleep and tears rolling. Now Klaus' hands were back to normal. Klaus then suddenly tossed and turned, an uneasy look on his face as his hands glowed again.

Diego prepared himself to awaken his brother, if necessary.


	11. Chapter 11

_ Vanya opened her eyes, glancing at the darkness surrounding her. She looked down at the water beneath her feet. This was a dream, right? She slowly looked back up to see two figures in the distance walking toward her. As they got closer, she could see that it was Klaus, and a brunette-haired woman who sort of looked like her, but a little older…and strangely familiar. _

_ "Uh, hi," Vanya said to Klaus; then she eyed the woman. "Do I know you?" _

_ "This is Eleven," Klaus explained. "Remember how I said she and her husband saw us today? She remembers us." _

_ "Oh." Vanya then smiled at Eleven. "Hey there. How are things?" _

_ "We’re all well," Eleven smiled back at Vanya. "But Klaus and I are here because…well, someone wants to talk to you." _

_ Vanya felt a sense of uneasiness. "Who?" She wondered if…. _

_ Eleven stepped back as Klaus' hands glowed. Sure enough, standing somberly before Vanya with his eye bandage and his chest riddled with sharp objects was none other than Leonard Peabody. _

_ "Shit!" With hands still glowing, Klaus jumped to Vanya's side and wrapped his arms around his sister. _

_ Leonard remained standing, a serious look to his disheveled face. _

_ Vanya quickly caught her breath and stared daggers at him. "What the hell do you want?" She raised her hands and clutched Klaus' arm around her chest. _

_ "I want," Leonard took a deep breath. "I know this means nothing, but I want to apologize to you." Leonard then looked at Klaus, who tightened his grip on his sister. "To your whole family." _

_ Vanya was floored. After everything he had done, now Leonard had the nerve to apologize? "You’re right," she finally said. "It means nothing." _

_ Leonard frowned and looked down at the watery floor. "I know. I understand." _

_ "Why?" Vanya coldly demanded. "Why did you do this to me? To my family?" _

_ Eleven then walked over to Leonard and took his hand. "He wants to show you." _

_ Vanya and Klaus remained in their embrace as they watched the footage of the baby being handed over to a loving Mr. Jenkins, and then the alarm sounding as the father watched his wife die on the hospital bed. They observed Harold Jenkins' father quickly morph into an abusive alcoholic, and then thirteen-year-old Harold's admiration of the Umbrella Academy. _

_ "Wait, so your birthday was also October First?" Vanya inquired, surprised. _

_ "Yes," Leonard admitted. "I wanted so badly to be a part of the Umbrella Academy." _

_ The footage continued, depicting Harold arriving at the Academy pleading in front of the massive crowd for Sir Reginald Hargreeves to adopt him, only to be humiliated by the old man. _

_ "I remember that day!" Klaus exclaimed. "So, that was you." _

_ Vanya and Klaus shuddered as they watched the thirteen-year-old boy bludgeon his father to death with a hammer. _

_ Then, a scene of the elder Mr. Jenkins in the afterlife, dreadfully facing the wife that he had lost the same day he had gained a son. _

_ "I don’t believe you," the woman angrily scolded him. "What the hell kind of monster did you turn into?" _

_ "I know," Mr. Jenkins tearfully pleaded. "When I lost you, something inside me snapped. I couldn’t take it!" _

_ "That is no excuse!" The woman exclaimed. "And our son is going to PRISON for killing his abuser! What kind of person is he going to become now?" _

_ Then God rode up on her bicycle. "Okay, you had your time," she said to Mr. Jenkins. "Off to spend eternity in solitary confinement." _

_ Klaus and Vanya both shuddered. Despite the father being a monster, an eternity of solitary confinement was unimaginable; the amount that Vanya and Klaus had spent themselves had been far more than enough for several lifetimes.  _

_ They continued watching the footage of Harold's release from prison, him reading Vanya's autobiography, and then standing outside the Academy on the day of the funeral watching Klaus toss the journal and other contents from the box into the dumpster.  _

_ "Shit," Klaus let go of Vanya and covered his face with his hands. "So that’s how he found out." He winced even more as he saw the actual entry that Harold/Leonard was reading while in the dumpster himself; Klaus remembered that dreadful time that Sir Reggie had kept him locked up in the mausoleum overnight. _

_ Vanya quickly threw her arms around Klaus. "No, it’s not!" She then glared at Leonard. "It’s  _ your _ fault for manipulating me, and for turning me against my family." Then she turned to Eleven. "Is he done, or do we have to sit through the footage of what he did to me?" _

_ Her question was immediately answered: the last amount of footage depicted Leonard himself, now in the afterlife, face-to-face with his mother. He said nothing as his mother tearfully repeated how saddened she was by how Harold had turned out, knowing that none of this would have happened if she were alive; but regardless, he was her son and she loved him. _

_ And that was what opened the floodgates for Leonard. The remainder of the footage depicted him crying uncontrollably. It was the only time that anyone had told Leonard --- Harold --- that they loved him. _

_ And that was all that it took for Leonard to release a lifetime of hurt and anger, and to finally become the person that his mother had wanted him to be. _

_ "I know that nothing will make up for what I did to you, Vanya," Leonard said after Eleven released her hand from his. "And I know having an abusive dad isn’t an excuse. But all along, I wanted to get back at Reginald Hargreeves for humiliating me. That was what broke me. What made me snap. But I made the choice. I did those things on my own." _

_ Vanya studied Leonard's disheveled facial expression. He was sincere. Now that he was dead, he had nothing more to lose. Then she thought back to…Pogo. What she did to him before. All due to her own pent-up anger from years of emotional abuse by her father. And yet, everyone forgave her. Now the man who had hurt her much more than her father ever had in her life was finally showing remorse for his own actions. _

_ "Vanya," Leonard continued, a tear falling from his remaining eye. "You were such a good person. I was too full of hate and vengeance to realize what I was doing. All I wanted was to get back at the Umbrella Academy for how your dad treated me. I know that saying sorry is far from enough, and I have to spend eternity living with myself for my actions. But I am truly sorry to you." He looked at Klaus, who tightened his hold on Vanya. "To all of your family. I’m just glad you’re all okay. That the world is okay."  _

_ Vanya stared at Leonard once more. Ever since their return, Vanya had spent the months looking back at all of the red flags about him that she had completely ignored because she thought that she had loved him. Then she remembered what Leonard had said about his relationship with his father back at the cabin. Vanya might have harbored years of bitterness due to feeling unloved by her father, and often by her siblings, but she could not imagine what would have become of herself had she been beaten by him. She leaned closer into Klaus, the sibling who seemed to had gotten the worst of their father’s abuse by repeatedly locking Klaus in a mausoleum, and yet Klaus turned out to be the kindest among the siblings. _

_ "I can’t imagine what you went through," Vanya finally told him. _

_ "It’s no excuse for anything," Leonard repeated. _

_ "You’re right, but…" Vanya looked at Klaus again before turning back to her former lover. "My family has had to forgive me for the things I did." She sighed. "I can learn to forgive you, too. It’ll just take some time." _

_ Leonard smiled as he wiped the tears from his face. "I understand. But thank you for giving me the chance." He stepped away from Eleven as he took one last look at her. "You are a beautiful person, Vanya. Inside and out. Someday you will make a guy happy…someone who truly deserves your love." _

_ Vanya swallowed the painful lump in her throat, not wanting to cry in front of Leonard, as he slowly began to vanish. _

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego was startled as he watched Klaus suddenly sit bolt upright, eyes wide open.

"You okay, bro?" Diego started toward him.

" _ Klaus! _ " Vanya's voice was heard from her bedroom.

Klaus quickly sprang out of bed, and Diego followed as Klaus rushed to Vanya's room. She, too, was sitting upright in her bed, tears streaming down her face.

Klaus hopped on her bed and threw his arms around his sister. For a moment Diego stared bewildered at his siblings as Klaus gently rocked his sobbing sister, repeating soothingly, "It’s okay, honey. It’s okay." Soon, Diego sat down on the bed himself and took both siblings in his arms. He held Klaus and Vanya tightly as they both shed their tears.

"That took a lot of balls," Diego said after a few minutes as both siblings' sobbings subsided and they explained the dream to him.

Vanya nodded sadly. "In my own way, I can understand how he must have felt." Diego opened his mouth to object but she quickly added, "I’m  _ not _ excusing what he did, but I understand it. Hopefully he can learn to forgive himself." Tears welled back up in Vanya's eyes. "I’m still learning how to forgive my own self."

Diego placed his hand on her shoulder. "There  _ is _ a difference. We  _ all _ love you. I know we’ve all done a shitty job of showing you we do; hell, we’ve done a shitty job of showing each other. But we do love you."

Vanya bit her lip and smiled as Diego kissed her on the forehead. Eventually Diego left to go back to bed, and Vanya scooted over in the bed to allow Klaus to spend the night with her.

Vanya knew she was loved. She was grateful that Leonard had found peace. More importantly, Vanya was in the process of becoming at peace with herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap for this story! I still need to go back and correct some mistakes. And now comes the time for me to share some things about myself; several trigger warnings apply to whoever reads this.
> 
> Obviously, we are in the process of a global pandemic. I need to be grateful that I have not been infected with the virus, nor have any of my family or friends. I also understand the importance of sheltering in place and have been compliant. However, on February 27 I broke my ankle and was barely getting around before our lockdown began, and all of this isolation has really gotten to me.
> 
> I have some things in common with Klaus; I am not a drug addict, but an alcoholic, and have been struggling with sobriety during this pandemic. I’ve also have some mental health issues and struggle with suicidal ideations...but I am safe, just so everyone knows. I should be using this time to do more writing, not just here but on my original works, but my broken brain continually convinces me of how worthless I feel, keeping me from the inspiration that a writer needs. I have people I can call, but in the past I exhausted all resources and am trying to work through things without burdening anyone.
> 
> I decided sharing this after reading some notes by another fanfic author who had started one fic a year ago, and while writing that story the writer went through a similar experience as a couple of the fanfic characters; the fic is incomplete and now the writer intends to complete the fic while using it to sort through their own feelings.
> 
> A lot of my works have suicidal ideation tags (and, of course, as we know, suicide is a part of the Umbrella Academy show itself), and I have read quite a few TUA fics on the subject. I read and write such things partially to sort through my own feelings, and NOT as a cry for help; my motive is to find purpose for living because I know all feelings and circumstances will pass.
> 
> I also see what a caring community that TUA fanfic writers display to one another, so this is my way of reaching out. I want to be part of that community. Please feel free to hit me up under KittiePhanatic on Tumblr, especially with suggestions or prompt-fill requests. Again, I am safe. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this.


End file.
